Kiyoshi Murai trudged through the everfalling snow. He loosed a breath, the air from his lungs exiting his mouth in a warm cloud of condensation. Shivering, he wrapped an arm around his coat pulling it tight, his other hand outstretched; holding a lantern out into the darkness.

They had all seen it just a few days before.

It had been a day as normal as any other in the small Japanese village of Shinsaki.

Kiyoshi was tending to the small spiritual shrine in which he and his granddaughter lived. The villagers in the settlement below them were migrating to the shrine for their evening prayers.

It had been cold then; winter always hit particularly hard this far north, but it seemed that the meteorologist on INN had predicted an especially brutal cold season.

Even so Kiyoshi kept his duty as the Shrine Keeper in mind. He wandered the shrine grounds, keeping a respectful distance away from the group of worshippers as they left ema, small plaques of wood upon a board situated next to the shrine's main temple.

Kiyoshi squinted, narrowing his eyes past the dispersing crowd of believers. Although his eyesight had deteriorated with age, Kiyoshi managed to catch a few of the prayers engraved onto the wooden pieces.

"Good health, spiritual strength, fertility..." Kiyoshi caught a few more but decided not to voice the relatively private prayers and wishes of his countrymen.

As they entered the haiden he noticed a few of the villagers drop coins or bills into the small wooden box adjacent to the temple's door. Kiyoshi let a little sigh of relief escape him, things were already tough. Raising his granddaughter alone was a difficult thing, especially so with his old age. Add on top of that a shaky financial situation and Kiyoshi wasn't sure just how long he and his granddaughter would last without these offerings.

He let loose a snort of derision. Gods only knew what Takara would do if she couldn't collect her precious "taxes".

He continued his musings for a while longer, scarcely noticing the cold or the passage of time. He blinked in surprise as the doors to the temple swung open, the mass of humans that poured forth from it erupting like a river.

Once the crowd had dispersed, Kiyoshi made his way inside.

Inside, he was met with a young girl dressed in a white kosode and a pair of red hakama. She saw him enter and formed a smile that eased his worries.

"Mikami." He greeted her softly, warmth emanating from every word. "How did the ceremony go?"

Mikami shrugged, her long dark hair rippling like a waterfall. "As well as always, grandfather I-"

She was interrupted by the shouts and cries of the recently departed villagers.

Kiyoshi flinched, his heart seizing and his mind running wild. "Have they come for me? For her? No, I hid us well."

Rushing outside, Kiyoshi saw what had disturbed the villagers.

Out upon the distant horizon, buried into the side of a nearby mountain, a second sun could be seen. It was the brightest thing for kilometers, a pulsing beacon of light that filled the sky. Kiyoshi narrowed his eyes as he stared towards the direction of the strange phenomenon, he held a hand up to further reduce the unnatural glare that was emanating from the base of the mountain.

Close by, he could hear some of the villagers murmur and bicker about the bright light. Some of them had even begun to pray.

It stayed like that for several more moments; and then, in an instant, it was gone. Kiyoshi blinked rapidly, the afterimage of the phenomenon burned into his retinas. He was dimly aware that several of the villagers had begun to rush home. Perhaps to celebrate or bemoan the sighting.

"Grandfather?"

Kiyoshi turned and found his granddaughter staring at him.

"What happened?"

Kiyoshi swallowed, his dry throat clicking uncomfortably. "I-I do not know Mikumi," he said, ushering her back into the temple. He gazed one last time toward the mountain that housed the brilliant light.

That had been several days ago, and the village had called a meeting to discuss what to do about the incident.

Now Kiyoshi sat on a small straw mat: to his left was Arakaki Gorou, the villages largest land owner, the man owned a quarter of the forest that was around Shinsaki. To his right was Kawasaki Iwao the villages only police officer and self proclaimed "Sheriff". Another dozen people sat around the large rectangular table that constituted the impromptu meeting room.

At the head of the table sat Seo Takara, the elder and matriarch of Shinsaki Village. Adjacent to her on a mat was a boy with blue hair and yellow pupils. Kiyoshi had to resist the urge to glare in the child's direction. Though he was around Mikami's age, just barely thirteen, Furuta Takara was nothing but a rotten scoundrel.

Kiyoshi couldn't count the amount of times he had caught the boy spray painting the shrines walls or saw him stealing money from the donations box. Worst of all was when he would attempt to flirt with Mikami. Gods only knew why she even put up with the brat, but Kiyoshi was pretty sure it wasn't due to any form of attraction.

Kiyoshi's eyes flicked back to the boy's grandmother, it wasn't like she was much better. Sure she didn't actively vandalize his home, but with the most influence in all of the village she was more than capable of making his life Hell.

Kiyoshi thought back grimly to the few times in which he had missed his "tax" payments. Sumida had refused to let him purchase anything from his store, Hokama avoided him entirely, and Kawaski would often stop him on his travels for "suspicious behavior".

Gripes aside Kiyoshi attempted to focus on the discussion at hand. Ideas were being thrown around, send a search party, send for a hero, someone even proposed to call the JSDF.

Eventually, they decided to send a small group up the mountain.

Naturally, Kiyoshi was selected first.

Thus, he now found himeself walking up the snow covered mountain. He glanced to his rear, noting Kawasaki and Hokama's cloth-wrappped forms.

He loosed a snort of disgust at their reluctant pace. "Let the old, quirkless man go first." He thought. "He'll make a good distraction if things so bad."

He paused for a moment to gain his bearings, noting the large crooked tree to his right. The sphere of light given by the lantern flickered and Kiyoshi smacked the device against his palm. "Damn batteries," he hissed.

Behind him, he could hear the curses and mutterings of his companions. "Kawasaki! Hokama! We need to split up! Search around the area and meet back here in half an hour."

He noticed the wary glance the two men shared. "Now!" Kiyoshi barked, his voice carried by the howling winds.

Grumbling the two men departed, going in opposite directions. With a sigh Kiyoshi turned around and pressed on.

He moved higher up the mountain for most of that half hour. Stopping only to catch his breath or jostle the electric lantern into working again.

He continued forward, absentmindedly looking around the frost-ridden landscape. He broke free of his stupor when his foot kicked a small metallic object. It clinked against his foot, before skidding across the ground as his momentum tossed it forward. He chased after it, eyes spotting the metallic glint against the lantern light.

With a gloved hand he held it up.

"A mask?" Kiyoshi ran a thumb down the face covering. It was exquisite, shaped in the image of a weeping man. Even so, it was beautiful; the mask seemed to be made of solid gold, and a trail of ruby-embedded tears ran down the cheeks of the visor.

Kiyoshi stared at the artifact a moment longer. With the deftness of an experienced thief he stowed the relic into the folds of his coat. Damn Seo and the other villagers, if he sold this to the right person it could feed him and Mikami for years.

Turning to leave Kiyoshi froze.

Something was out there.

He wasnt sure how he knew, perhaps it was some primal, animalistic part of his brain that recognized this. Perhaps it was his own training, honed from decades of activity that alerted him. Regardless, warning bells rang in his head. His heart began to beat faster and faster, adrenaline and other endorphins rushing into his bloodstream.

This kind of fear, he'd felt it only once before.

His eyes darted back and forth, searching for the predator that had him in its sight.

There!

His eyes focused on a shape present with the dead forest around him. It moved toward him, calmly, with purpose, like a lion stalking through a savannah.

Shakily he reached to his belt, drawing a long slender knife from its sheathe.

"Who goes there!" He cried, his entire focus being on the figure that strode through the snow.

The shape paused, then continued forward.

With bated breath, Kiyoshi watched as the figure stepped into the lantern light.

He blinked in surprise; the first thing he noticed were the wings. As white as the snow that fell around them. They fluttered, pinions bristling against the shrieking winds. Next was the hair, gold and long, running down a head like a cascading waterfall.

He met the eyes of the... man? No, boy. Despite the juveniles height Kiyoshi could see the youth present in his features.

He stared into a pair of crimson orbs, as red as blood.

It took Kiyoshi a moment to realize that the child was naked protected only by his wings, which were wrappped around his pale body.

Slowly Kiyoshi lowered the knife, the feeling of fear he felt rapidly dissipating as he was met with the realization of who stood before him.

"Who... who are you?"

The boy looked at him for a moment.

Then, he spoke.

"I am Sanguinius."

WOOH

Thats a wrap folks, I've got to say Im absolutely blown away by the support I've gotten. The comments from chapter 1 alone have given me alot to think about.

To answer some questions posted in the last chapter. Yes Sangy will still be Sangy (for the most part), Im drawing his character from three specific books: Fear to Tread, Echoes of Eternity, and Sanguinius: The Great Angel. While it wont be perfect and I'm sure I'll get some stuff wrong I hope you'll stick with me through my errors.

In terms of his Quirk, Sanguinius is just gonna come up with some intricate lie to explain his powers. This is the guy who hid the fact that he's part vampire from his brothers and father for years, hes not gonna tell his classmates that he's barely human and from another dimension/time. Also yes, he is in fact going to be a rizzlord. Heartbreak a plenty when it comes to this guy. Although in terms of genuine romance, maybe. I can really only think of one or two people who Sanguinius would mesh well with. Who they'll be? IDK stick around to find out.

Adios, until next time.