October 12th, 2009

Naru got up early the next morning. He got up, brushed his teeth, had breakfast, and then went to his basement to study magecraft. Inside the basement, there were several boxes, each of them labeled with a different material. Naru picked up the box labeled "glass," and set it down in front of him. Inside the box, as the label suggested, were several shards of glass from various appliances. Naru took a shard out of the box and began using his magecraft on it.

Naru: "Reforge"

The shard then separated into various smaller shards that started to shift around each other, eventually forming an ornate glass cup. The magecraft that Naru used was called "Reforgement," a variant of transmutation that involved the deconstruction of an object on an atomic level, and then reconstructing it into an improved state. This type of magecraft was exclusive to the Kaminari family since their magic crest modifies their circuits. This meant only those belonging to the Kaminari family could use it.

Naru admired his glass with pride until he noticed something. Nothing was wrong with the glass itself, but rather it had to do with his right hand. It appeared to have three bruise-like marks on it. Naru shrugged. He must have hit his hand yesterday after being knocked out by Goro. Suddenly, Naru heard the house phone ring from upstairs.

Naru: "Ugh, now of all times!"

He got up from his workspace, went upstairs, and answered the phone.

Naru: "Hello?"

Yui: "Naru-kun, this is Yui. I need you to come over right now! It's an emergency.

Naru: "Alright, I'll be right there!"

He put on his jacket and was about to leave when he saw Touka blocking the door.

Naru: "What is it Touka?"

Touka: "You promised you would stay home for my birthday!"

Touka made a pouty face, her cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk. Naru couldn't help but smile at his sister's cute behavior.

Naru: "Hahaha, sorry Touka, but I have to go. It's an emergency. Tell you what. While I'm out, I'll get you something really cool for your birthday! What do you say!"

Touka's eyes lit up, excited by the prospect of a new gift.

Touka: "Thank you Onii-chan! You're the best!"

Naru: "That's the spirit! See you in a bit Touka!

Touka: "Bye Onii-chan! Come back soon!"

Naru arrived at Izo's Department Store and went into the storage room where he found members of the Infinite Path standing around with disturbed looks on their faces. Even the normally emotionless Zero looked a little freaked out.

Naru: "Hey Taro."

Taro: "Hm? Ah, Kaminari! Glad you could make it."

Naru: "So, what's going on? Why's everyone so gloomy? Did Darnic resurrect Hitler or something?"

Taro: "Not quite. Several kidnappings are happening around Sekoyoma. According to a lip I got from Asuka, several parents made several calls to the police station reporting the abduction of children from their homes."

Naru: "That is quite odd. Usually, kidnappers abduct children from other criminals to gain leverage, why would they kidnap children from normal civilians?"

Taro pulled several photographs from his pocket.

Taro: "This is why. Although I must warn you, what you are about to see is quite disturbing."

He placed the photographs on the table and Naru finally understood why everyone looked so disturbed. The pictures showed the corpse of a child, or what used to be a child. Its limbs were severed and placed around its torso forming a "star" shape, and the head had been cut off and put on the center of the torso with a dagger lodged in its forehead. Naru was now shocked along with the rest of the crew.

Naru: "What kind of monster would do such a thing to a child? I get that Sekoyomais filled with all kinds of psychos, but this is unbelievable!"

Taro: "Exactly, we cannot let these murders continue any longer. Sekoyoma already has a very small population, if these children keep getting murdered, the results will be disastrous."

Naru: "Do we have any clue of who the culprit might be?"

Taro: "No, but thanks to Asuka's review of the crime scene, we do know that the killer is targeting children under the age of 12. Other than that, we don't know anything else. The killer is very efficient when it comes to hiding evidence. I want everyone to go on patrol and see if they can find anything related to these murders. You are now dismissed!"

Everyone went their separate ways to investigate on their own. Naru however didn't feel like investigating. Today was Touka's birthday and he promised to be there with her birthday present. Before he could get to shopping, however, a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.

?: "Psst, Naru!"

Naru turned to see where the voice came from. It was Rei. He was peeking out from behind one of the isles in the store beckoning Naru to come over.

Naru: "What is it? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Rei: "Sorry about that, but there's something you gotta see!"

Rei led Naru to a locker in the back of the store and pulled out a large duffel bag.

Naru: "Rei, did you steal this from someone?"

Rei: "Sure did! I snatched it from right under their nose!"

Naru: "Dumbass! Asuka just gave you a warning yesterday!"

Rei: "I know, I know, but it's what's inside that I want to focus on."

He unzipped the bag and Naru was quite taken aback by what he saw!

Naru: "What…is this?"

Rei: "IT'S A BAG FULL OF SWORDS!"

He was right. Inside the duffel bag were a bunch of swords of different sizes, types, and shapes.

Naru: "What the…who the fuck carries a bag full of swords everywhere they go? Are they some kind of arms dealer or something?"

Rei: "Believe it or not, that's not the weirdest part!"

Rei reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out something unexpected: a lion plushie.

Naru: "I….who…what the fuck?

Rei: "I had the exact same reaction."

Naru: "May I ask who you stole this from?"

Rei: "I don't know. I didn't get a good look at their face, but they appeared to be around the same age as Taro. Oh yeah, and they had red hair."

Naru: "Whatever, does this have anything to do with the murders."

Rei: "No, it's just something I wanted to show you."

Naru: "I'm gonna leave now."

Rei: "Hey, what about the lion plushie?"

Naru: "What about it?"

Rei: "Aren't you going to give it to Touka as a birthday present?"

Naru thought about it for a moment. On one hand, giving Touka the lion plushie would help save money. On the other hand, he would be giving her someone else's belongings. I also wasn't the "cool" present he promised her.

Naru: "Alright, I'll give it to her. If she doesn't like it, I could always use my reforgement magecraft to turn it into a Pokemon or something."

Rei: "See? There ya go! Don't I give the best advice? It always pays to listen to your best friend!"

Naru: "You're right. Sorry for doubting you earlier."

Rei: "No problem! Now go on! Your sister is probably throwing a fit right now."

Meanwhile…

Yui: "Boss!"

Taro: "What is it Nagamitsu?"

Yui: "Asuka just provided more evidence about the murders. Apparently, all the children kidnapped were children of mages."

Taro: "What? Why are they targeting mages specifically?"

Yui: "I don't know, but I think it has something to do with this:"

She put another photograph on the table. It depicted a large red circle most likely painted from the blood of the children that had been murdered.

Taro: "A summoning circle?!"

Yui: "You know what this means right?"

Taro: "Yes. The Holy Grail War is about to begin!"

Naru continued along the trail to his home. The back of his hand had been hurting the whole day and he needed to put on ointment to ease the pain. As he was walking to his house, he saw a familiar face sitting in the middle of the road eating salad with a pair of chopsticks It was Brook Hackerman, the strange girl he met yesterday.

Naru: "Excuse me, why are you eating salad in the middle of the road?"

Brook: "Hm? Oh, it's you! You're…um…sorry I didn't catch your name yesterday due to the author's laziness. What's your name?"

Naru: "My name is Naru. Naru Kaminari."

Brook: "Kaminari huh? Isn't that the Japanese word for thunder? That would make your name: 'Naru Thunder!' right?"

Naru: "Yeah….sure…whatever, are you still trying to fly, or have you given up?"

Brook: "I have. As it turns out, the human body cannot convert sunlight into energy and gain superpowers!"

Naru: "Wow, who knew? At least she's learning."

Brook: "That's why I'm going to eat more vegetables so I can become part plant so I can convert sunlight properly and fly!"

Naru: "I take it back. This dumbass hasn't learned anything!"

Brook: "Anyways, I'm looking for something called the Hibagon, which I heard inhabits these woods. Have you seen it?"

Naru: "No, I haven't. Also, I think the Hibagon is only found near Mount Hiba in Hiroshima, which is much further from Sekoyoma."

Brook: "...That bastard lied to me!" Thank you for telling me this."

Naru: "Um, you're welcome?"

Brook: "..."

Naru: "Is something the matter?"

Brook: "No, it's just….you're the first person who's actually come back to see me a second time. Most people just have a single conversation with me and then ignore me the next time I see them."

Naru: "It's not hard to see why!"

Brook: "So what I'm trying to say is: thank you for putting up with me not once…but TWICE!

Naru: "Um, you're welcome?"

Brook: "Now you'll excuse me, I got to go. There may not be a Hibagon in these woods, but there is bound to be something else! Also, this scene has been going on for way too long and the author's getting testy."

Naru: "Sure…see you around….I guess?"

Brook: "BYEEEE!"

Naru continued to walk along the wooden path leaving his new friend(?) to her own devices. As he was approaching his apartment he couldn't help but feel like something was off. It felt like something was off like something was supposed to happen when he crossed the…..

The bounded field around his apartment was down. Touka didn't know how to do that just yet, which meant only one thing: someone had broken in. Naru rushed towards his apartment in a panic hoping the worst wouldn't come true. When he got to his apartment. He immediately burst through the front door. There he stood in horror. The place was a mess with furniture torn and appliances smashed to pieces, but there was one thing that was missing. The worst thing that these would-be thieves could have possibly taken.

They got Touka.