"Shipment…" Caleb muttered, crouched in the shadow of a building while letting his legs hang, the shadows enveloping him gently. The only source of light was the glow of the screen of his phone, reflecting his face and his neck, revealing his armor.

On the screen showed an anonymous message with details on a shipment of drugs coming in at a later day along with other details. So, Caleb decided to stake the location and wait. As for school…

His attendance hasn't taken a hit yet, so as long as he has a good enough excuse ready, he'd be fine. Besides, supposedly, the pay for this is really good, enough to make his informant practically salivate at the money that's supposedly coming along.

This means that Caleb won't have to do much 'requisitioning' anymore, opening up his schedule and allowing him to finally begin planning on how to get the Umbral Awn.

Turning on his phone again, he looked at the message it was opened to, detailing facts about the ship with the supplies that were coming in and the time. Looking out into the dockyard, he squints, letting his various senses take in the city scape in the middle of the day while he was hidden in the shadows.

Frowning, he slumped over, resting his back against the wall in preparation for a long day, reaching into his Bag of Holding bringing out Reshar's journal, and beginning a new entry on his life there.

His pen slid over the paper, his handwriting transitioning languages as he occasionally forgets certain words and uses the first word that comes to mind. Out of boredom, he turned the journal so it was diagonal and began drawing on it. The shapes converged around each other, his pen moving while he drew a shoddy image of the dockyard in front of him until all that was left were the details.

Weirdly enough, he was feeling like he was missing something… or someone…

Caleb shook his head and returned to his sketch, ignoring the pangs of longing that coursed through him on occasion.


Ikaruga was the first to sit down within the Shinobi Room, cleaned of actual and figurative bugs while she waited for the others to file in.

While they all lived together, Asuka didn't return to their dorms so she probably stayed with her parents for the night. It wasn't a common occurrence, but that was one of the perks of living in the city you were studying in, especially if you were a shinobi.

Regardless, Ikaruga brought out her assignments and proceeded to review them, already aware of the usual schedules of the other girls.

In the middle of her studying, she heard the subtle clicks and whirs of the mechanism behind the entrance to the Shinobi Room as, one by one, Katsuragi, Hibari, and Yagyu entered the room. "Morning you three."

"Mornin'."

"Good morning!"

"Mmh."

The three filed in, returning the greeting to Ikaruga as she put away her material, confused. "Is Asuka not here yet?"

Now Katsuragi looked confused while Hibari seemed worried. "She's not here yet?"

"No. I thought you girls met up with her?" Ikaruga asked while the three looked at each other before Katsuragi shrugged.

"She's probably just late, wouldn't be the first time. All of us are early anyway, let's cut her some slack." Katsuragi suggested while Ikaruga reluctantly nodded.

"True, it's a bit too early to worry anyway," Ikaruga noted, but despite her words, they found the fallacy in them, their minds going to the recent attacks that have been going on. "On second thought, I'll go look for her."

"I'll go search at her-." Before Katsuragi could finish, they were interrupted by the sound of the mechanism at the entrance of the Shinobi Room. The two sigh in relief while Yagyu sits down beside Ikaruga, Hibari turning to greet Asuka with a smile, like usual.

"Hey Asuka, where were you?" Katsuragi began, sighing exasperatedly while shaking her head, "We were about to organize a sea-." She stopped once she got a good look at the brunette. "Holy mother of-! Asuka, what happened to you."

Asuka didn't answer, instead, she ambled in their direction, barely remembering to remove her outdoor shoes to the worry of everyone watching, her hair in a messy ponytail with bags under her eyes until she got to the lowered table within the Shinobi Room.

She didn't sit down as much as her legs gave in from under her, her knees colliding against the floor with a muffled sound before her face hit the table, to the shock of everyone watching.

"Asuka!" Ikaruga yelped, while Hibari and Katsuragi stepped forward.

"What happened, was it the people who attacked us?" Katsuragi asked, her eyes narrowed while her hands curled into fists. "What did they do to you?"

Despite Yagyu's best efforts, she was also listening intently while Hibari stepped forward, worried until Asuka's muffled voice rang out. "What?" Hibari asked, leaning forward to try and hear what Asuka said better.

"It was my mom," Asuka answered, shifting to the side so her voice wasn't muffled. "She found out about Caleb and grilled me about it all night."

The others sighed in relief, meanwhile, Asuka was still complaining. "Mou, I know mom was a Shinobi once, but if I didn't know any better, I'd think she had training interrogating other Shinobis. She just kept asking more and more questions, she even lied about having the Prime Minister on the phone!"

"Really?" Ikaruga asked, raising a brow. "Does she?"

"Grandpa probably does," Asuka answered honestly, slumping against the table. "It wouldn't surprise me. Still, Mom pulled out everything, and I didn't exactly pass the counter-interrogation test with flying colors."

"Yeah, you got an average score, didn't you?" Katsuragi asked, leaving Asuka to whine as the others could see something stab at her. Meanwhile, Hibari resolved herself to not visit her family any time soon, lest she find herself in a situation like Asuka's.

Regardless, the five of them settled into their lessons with ease, training physically and mentally for the next time they're attacked, but Hibari's attention was elsewhere. Her eyes were on the gate of the main building, waiting for one young man to appear.

Waiting for that notable silver bang of hair to appear at some point, the others did too, at some point, but Hibari was better at spotting things, and every time she checked, she never caught sight of him. The time passed until it was the middle of the day, lunch, and he still hadn't appeared.

Asuka was sleeping on Ikaruga's lap, the only one, beside Yagyu, who didn't feel the worry the other three were feeling. Ikaruga's hand moved like a whip, slapping Katsuragi's hand away when she tried to cop a feel of Asuka.

"So, whatcha looking for?" Katsuragi crooned, already aware of exactly who Hibari was looking for. "You're starting to look like a stalker."

"I am not." Hibari pouted, glaring cutely at Katsuragi while she giggled, leaving Ikaruga to sigh in exasperation while Yagyu narrowed her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Yagyu asked, a premonition coursing through her while Hibari sighed.

"Just… I haven't seen Caleb all morning." Hibari pointed out. "I'm a bit worried."

"True." Katsuragi relented, nodding. "We haven't seen him all day, and if he did come in late, someone would raise a stink."

"Or he would himself," Ikaruga added while Asuka grumbled, groaning as she sat up. "How are you feeling, Asuka?"

"Fine." She answered, blinking away the grogginess. "Just needed some shut-eye. Speaking of, have any of you seen Caleb?"

"Huh," Katsuragi interjected, visibly amused. "What a coincidence."

"No," Ikaruga answered, ignoring Katsuragi's amusement. "None of us have seen him."

"I'll call him," Hibari said, reaching into her pocket and bringing out her phone. "Who knows what could've happened? I'm starting to get a little worried."

As all sides of the Shinobi world, whether they be Good, Evil, or Renegade, answer to the government and corporations, none of them have the habit of going after uninvolved civilians en masse. That said, targeted attacks aren't exactly off the table, whether it be of the client or the Shinobi, not to mention how 'involved' and capable Caleb is. The chance is fairly high, all things considered.

Tapping at the screen of her phone, Hibari finds Caleb's contact and dials.


Caleb was patient to an extent. Beyond being a teenager, he instilled into Caleb that being in one place for too long is dangerous. Of course, this was a double-edged sword that he managed to temper over time, but the instinct is still there along with the fear.

So, he roamed, not out of necessity, but boredom. He could see the dockyard from the small dock he was at, with it being a school day and a weekday, no one was there, so he had it to himself. Though he still had to evade the police unless they spot him and ask why he isn't at school.

Crouching at the edge of the dock, he looked down at the sea, his reflection staring at him with the same expression he had. Blank and bored before he huffed, an application of ki turning that burst of air into flames, amusing himself and scaring a few of the fishes.

Idly, he looked back out into the dockyard, a cargo ship in the process of being unloaded, but not the one he was looking for. Besides, it was still daylight, attacks like the one he had planned are best done at night.

As he was about to reach into his Bag of Holding for some string and the Tiger Fang to do some fishing, his phone rang.

He forgot he left it on, the sound surprising him as he tried to fish it out of his pocket, using too much force and sending it flying. "Shit!" he cursed, fumbling while he tried to keep it from falling into the water.

A particularly hard swipe had him extending too far, the phone on the way to hit the water only for his body to react first, extending his leg out and kicking the phone up until he had enough. A cursory glance didn't show anyone snooping at him, so he focused for a second.

A second later, the phone fell into his hands, his body in the air while his boots revealed a mark while his body fell. His boots hit the water with a quiet splash before it splashed again and again, his form blurring in between each splash as he ran on the water until he reached the docks, his steps barely making any sound while his phone continued to ring.

Checking who was calling him, it showed Hibari's name. It made him wonder why she was calling him at this time. "Hello?"

"Caleb!" Hibari yelped, relief clear in her voice before she continued, "Are you okay? Did something happen? Why aren't you at school?"

On the other end, Asuka's head turned when she heard Caleb answer, her eyes glinting, and pointed at Hibari's phone while Hibari spoke with a relieved smile. A smile the others had as their shoulders relaxed.

"Sorry, got a bit of a cold after I trained into the night and slept outside," Caleb answered, sheepish to play up the lie. "Got a bit better though, took some medicine for it, so don't worry."

"Caleb~." Hibari said, trying her best to sound stern, "You shouldn't sleep outside, much less train so much, it's bad for your health."

Of course, it didn't have the effect she was hoping for, especially with the relief she was feeling. However, before she could continue, the phone was taken from her hands. "Huh?" She asked, turning to see Asuka with her phone, her expression particularly cross.

"Caleb!" Asuka began, glaring at no one in particular.

"Huh? Asuka, what are you-?"

"Why didn't you tell us your dad was famous?" Asuka asked, causing everyone to stop in their tracks at what they heard.

Silence overcame the roof they were using to have lunch in, confusion prevalent as they processed what Asuka just said. The first one to break the silence was Caleb, who was genuinely confused. "Asuka… what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb, my mom got on my case for the entire night, practically interrogating me to try and find out if you're actually the son of some famous singer she liked," Asuka explained, frowning. "She pulled out actual interrogation techniques, it felt like my counter-interrogation test all over again. I barely got any sleep."

"Asuka, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. Amnesia, remember?" He reminded her while his head spun in confusion.

Asuka paused, sheepish and ashamed, "Right. Sorry… Didn't get much sleep last night."

"It's fine." Caleb waved it off, sighing while sitting at the edge of the dock.

Asuka shook her head at a realization, "In that case take responsibility."

"What?" He asked, the sudden demand confusing him while Asuka continued. However, most of what she said flew over his head since he was glancing at the dockyard from his phone, getting distracted from the phone before huffing. Might as well accept to get it over with, the quicker he concedes, the quicker he can get back to scoping the place out. "Fine, fine, how do I take responsibility?"

Asuka paused, blinking for a second before admitting, "I didn't think I'd get this far."

Her mind trailed off, going to things like training or hanging out until she finally decided on one that had her blushing. "Take me out on a date." She answered shyly while Hibari narrowed her eyes, refusing to let Asuka get ahead of her.

"No!" Hibari interjected, grabbing her phone with a pout as her thumb hit the speaker option. "He's going with me." She said with a pout as Asuka frowned.

The two glared at each other, electricity practically fizzling between them while Ikaruga tried to defuse the situation. That was, until Katsuragi piped up, "Like that movie you and I have planned?" She said with a smug and teasing grin while Hibari and Asuka whirled at her with their glares.

While Ikaruga was watching her team crumble, along with Yagyu and Kiriya, who was watching his greatest fears come to life. The teacher was about to step in until Caleb spoke.

He was getting frustrated form the arguing, simply focused on getting back to his mission as he snarled, "Fine, I'll go out with all of you."

Silence overcame the roof, everyone frozen at his words while Caleb sighed in relief, the weird feeling at the pit of his stomach receding while allowing him the chance to focus on his mission once more.

Then, the silence was broken once more by Ikaruga this time, "All of us?" She asked softly while Caleb's eyes widened in the realization that he was on speaker. Sighing, he knew he couldn't back down, so he just double-downed.

"Yes, all of you." He confirmed.

On the other end, Katsuragi was grinning, noticing Kiriya, who seemed as surprised as everyone else. Though, not as embarrassed, as all of them, even Yagyu, had a pink dust around their cheeks. So, quickly, she grabs the phone. "All five of us, got it?" She confirmed before nodding with a smile. "Remember, it's a promise. Talk to you later." She hung up with a victorious grin and returned the phone to Hibari.

Meanwhile, Kiriya sighed, bringing a hand to his face while the other students were varying levels of embarrassed.

Caleb, stared at his phone, his mind putting the conversation in a loop before looking at nowhere in particular. Finally, after a lot of staring, his arm surged to his head, slapping his forehead at the realization. "What the hell did I just agree to?"

His stomach rolled once more, but not like it did when the girls were arguing. That was more… negative. Unpleasant. He really did not like the feeling. This one was more… anxious. Almost excited mixed with teenage hormones.

Grunting, he shook his head, sighing before he surveyed the area. He caught sight of an officer before he slipped into the shadows, crossing the dock in a second and finding himself within the shadows of an alleyway. Quickly, he climbed up the wall and found himself on the roof, hiding in the shadows as his presence practically disappeared.

Like usual, it was time for him to… wait. At least this time, cops probably won't find him without really trying.


Instinct and practice jolted him awake, the moon high above him while cups and wrapping paper were gathered in a small bag from some fast food joint nearby. Hunger struck during his stakeout.

Idly, he rubbed his eyes, looking at the dock before his eyes narrowed. Grabbing his phone and bringing it up, comparing it to a photo, he nodded. "It's the same."

Same marks, same name, same shape, that ship was his target. The best part was that he felt rested after the nap he just had. This should be easy.

Not to mention he could see people moving something around when all of the dockworkers already returned home, especially since it's midnight. A lot of accidents could happen at midnight.

Fixing his cloak so it covered the lower part of his jaw, he grabbed his armor and slipped it on, the cloak covering the material before he grabbed the bag of trash from the fast food he ordered and took a deep breath.

A second later, a small stream of fire enveloped the bag, burning the bag and everything inside before he let the scraps fall. Standing on the edge of the roof, he let himself drop before he kicked off the wall and disappeared among the shadows once more.

Each step out of the shadows led him closer to the dockyard, where people were patrolling around, but no one was unloading anything, to his confusion. "Now, he said it was…"

The memory of the location came to him, it was in one of the shipping containers inside.

Eyes narrowed, he took a deep breath, and in a puff of shadows, he disappeared, appearing behind the guards by the catwalk of the ship, slipping into the shadows once more while releasing a breath. "Let's stick with Shadow Jaunt."

While quicker than Shadow Jaunt, Shadow Stride was a higher level, as such, it needed a noticeably higher level of ki.

Narrowing his eyes, he took a deep breath, letting the cloud of shadows cover him before converging into a mote of shadows before disappearing. A second later, he stepped out of the cloud of shadows on the ship, sighing while he looked around.

A man was eating a bar, gaping when Caleb stepped out and froze.

Before he could alarm anyone, Caleb lashed out, hitting his throat before following with a left hook and then a kick to the stomach before ending it with another to the face, knocking him out while Caleb sighed.

Looking around, he sucked in his lips and made sure the cloak was raised around his face. He shouldn't need the helmet this time.

Now, he's looking for a shipping container in particular, which should be fairly easy to spot since, according to his informant, it was one of the closer ones to the catwalk.

He stalked around the ship, quietly making his way around until he found the right one, according to his informant.

However, something bothered him for a second as he wondered out loud. "This is weirdly accurate information." He said out loud before shaking his head.

Regardless, he needed this open. Reaching into his Bag of Holding, he brought out the Evantide's Edge, cutting through the locks and stowing it away. Opening the shipping container, he blinked.

After all, a group of men were waiting inside, all of them turning to him before the first swung at him. Ducking under the attack, Caleb retaliated with an uppercut, catching the man's chin and knocking him back before catching the other with a kick, but couldn't pull back fast enough before his leg was caught.

He tried to pull it off, but then the man he uppercut first got up and tried to bring his arm down to break his leg. Thinking quick, Caleb turned, putting both hands on the floor and raising the leg, catching the man who was holding it by surprise and causing the other to miss his attack.

Caleb wrenched his leg down, bringing the man with him before he raised his leg in an arc, catching the man's chin before he slammed the heel onto the first's head. The third leaped at him and he crouched, catching him in mid-air before slamming him onto the floor with the first, stomping on the second as he dashed out of the shipping container.

The sound of knives, swords, and more all stopped him, a group of men all pointing their weapons at him. Stopping him from moving immediately as he stopped, one thought in mind.

That rat bastard.

He was set up, he should have noticed earlier, but-.

"So, you're the one who's been messing with the Boss' shipments, destroying them." A man spoke, the group all parting for him, to Caleb's confusion. After all, the man wasn't wearing a shirt, and, instead, wore a pair of Muay Thai shorts and his fists were covered in hand wraps, resembling a Muay Thai fighter.

"I was sent here to end that." The man said, narrowing his eyes with a confident grin. "So, we had to lay out some bait for a trap. Of course," he added, bringing out a duffle bag bulging with cash, "the bait is very much real."

Caleb's eyes were on the duffel bag, wondering if he could grab it quick enough, but decided against it. He can feel how strong the man in front of him is.

There was silence while Caleb brought up his hands in a fighting stance, the man grinning as if pleased. "Good." He crooned. "Show your worth, little hero."

The title made a bit of frustration rise before he ignored it.

After all, the group was closing in on him.

He stepped forward into a spinning back kick, the man who was hit flying back unconscious and holding his stomach.

Caleb in the middle of the group brought up his forearm, blocking a bat before ducking under a kick, swerving around a knife before grabbing the wrist and kicking one of their knees. He pulled the arm he was holding and maneuvered it so he'd stab himself with his knife, before finishing with an elbow that knocked him out.

A kick sent Caleb stumbling before he turned, ducking a hook and retaliating with a sweep of his leg, bringing the man to the floor before grabbing his leg. Caleb swung him around, throwing him at a group as they fell, some of them unconscious and some of them still getting back up.

It only served to confuse Caleb further, because these people were hardy. Each punch was going as hard as he could without using any of the maneuvers he knew. Despite this, along with his training and unnatural strength, some of them kept getting up.

He ducked a pipe, sending a side kick to a man before spinning into a reverse hook kick, catching the man by the jaw as he stumbled but didn't fall. Slowly, he patted his dislocated jaw before setting it right back by force, testing it before he grinned.

Caleb didn't let him do anything else before he punched him in the stomach, doubling him over and slamming his head against a wall.

The next tried to attack him, but he parried it, attempting his own punch before that was parried as he retaliated with almost fanatical fervor. Again and again, the two clashed until Caleb caught his arm and rammed his knee into the man's stomach, sending him back before releasing a right hook that knocked him out.

Again and again, Caleb fought, the number and skill worrying, but he managed it with minimal damage to him before he turned to the larger man.

The man didn't say anything until he stepped forward, the aura coming from him nearly palpable and a step above the others. Clearly, he was the leader, if his clothes didn't make it obvious. The ones he knocked out had almost military clothes while the man in front of him wore Muay Thai clothes.

Still, he grinned, "Come, step forward and try your luck."

Caleb didn't answer, instead, he got into his stance and released a breath, slowly edging forward.

The two got closer to each other, Caleb cautiously making his way forward while the man confidently strode closer, the two circling each other until they were close enough.

The man attacked first, bringing his leg in an arc while Caleb brought his arms up to block it. His eyes widened at the impact, the kick forcing him back before the punch landed followed by a palm strike.

He doesn't just look like he practices Muay Thai, he does.

A kick lands on his leg and he bites down a curse before he ducks a punch, landing one of his own before following with a knee, only for the man to grab him, trying to land knees of his own. Gritting his teeth, Caleb tried to keep the damage to a minimum but it was easier said than done.

Caleb jolted forward, landing a headbutt before following with a punch to the man's side and an uppercut, but the man was relentless.

Each kick behind his heavy frame and mastery had Caleb stumbling or reeling, his armor taking the brunt of some of it, but what wasn't armored took a few hits.

What's worse is that sometimes he didn't even flinch if Caleb got sloppy, he didn't know if it was simple composure or if his hits just didn't do much if he didn't do them right, but Caleb grit his teeth and punched.

The man swung his foot and Caleb ducked, sweeping the man's leg from under him before Caleb tackled him, landing blow after blow until he was forced off, and when he tried to tackle him, he had to shift and use his shoulder to block the flying knee that was sent his way. His feet dragged against the floor of the ship, the people he knocked out coming to, but not doing anything to impede him while Caleb got to his feet.

Huffing, Caleb flew forward, his leg lashing out while the man seemed impressed and excited, despite Caleb's smaller frame, he was still capable of matching with the man, if not slightly weaker. So, he fought back, while Caleb's fuse was slowly shortening.

He just wanted this over with, why won't the man just go down?

He finally slipped up, his foot stepping on something incorrectly and forcing him off balance while the man swung his leg.

Despite bringing his arms up, Caleb was still sent flying into a pile of wooden crates, breaking and splintering under his weight and force that kicked up dust. He released a breath along with what little restraint he had left.

"Fuck it." He muttered under his breath and brought out the Tiger Fang.

Slowly, he slipped into the haze of anger and bloodlust of the Tiger Claw discipline and growled.

Outside of the dust, the man looked, waiting, after all, he knew that it wasn't enough to knock the young man down. Though… something felt off.

He barely evaded the kukri that was looking to gouge out his throat, watching as the young man was different. He could see it on his face, contorted in anger and growling like a beast rather than a human. Despite that, there was some intelligence behind his eyes.

But he didn't have an opportunity to admire the young man's resilience as he had to duck an attack.

He charged like a wild beast, slashing and attacking sporadically, but he did so with technique in mind.

The attacks were savage, but they were clearly meant to bait out an attack and retaliate. Looking to tire out the prey without cornering them, like a tiger would.

He slashed and he raised a leg before leaning back from the following attack while Caleb tried to stab at the man. Before he could recede his arm, the man caught it, triumphant as he was about to ram his elbow down and break Caleb's arm, finishing it.

His pride harkened his fall, noticing too late that Caleb's kukri was not in his hand. Caleb's eyes were wide and focused on one thing.

Finishing this. So, he caught the Tiger Fang he let go of and slashed it straight through his right eye.

"Argh!" The man yelled, grabbing his eye while Caleb leaped at him.

The kick, while slow from losing half of his depth perception, was accurate, hitting Caleb in the armored chest and sending him back.

Gritting his teeth, the man called, "We have to go, now!"

He hated this course of action, but with him now missing an eye, he couldn't fight much longer, the pain pulsing through his head while he escaped, watching the bestial anger within Caleb bleed away slowly.

Bringing out a detonator, he pressed it twice while escaping, grinning in satisfaction for some reason.

The first explosion wracked Caleb from his anger, his eyes widening as he used Shadow Stride to reach the duffel bag and grab it. The next explosion nearly knocked him off his feet as he used Shadow Stride one more time to reach the edge of the ship and leap into the water under it, explosions wrecking the ship behind it and the cargo it held.

His body hit the water after he managed to slip the bag into his Bag of Holding, exhaustion making his limbs heavier while he floated in the water. He let the cool feeling of the water course through him while he took in everything that happened and came with one goal.

I think it's time I talked with that bastard.


Within an office filled with various odds and ends filling it, a brunette with her hair tied into a pair of buns was filling out a report, her pen moving dutifully while she worked all for INTERPOL.

Once she was finished, someone entered the room. "Excuse me, Miss. The meeting is about to start."

Looking up from her paperwork, the Chinese woman nodded, "Understood, I'll be there soon."

The woman began to gather her things before she took one last look at one of the pictures on her desk.

On it, her younger form was shown along with her father in a training gi, leaning against a particularly taciturn kid who was frowning, pointedly looking away while she smiled at him. The older man, her father, looking at the two fondly.

Again, she spotted the detail that stood out. That is, the section of his hair that was silver. Idly, she smiled fondly at the picture.

Gathering the paper, she made her way out of her office and left it in its silence with a click.


A/N: Oh, who could these mysterious people be, I wonder. Anyway, I'm getting back into the swing of things, but now, I'm taking commissions.

If you're interested, I will write anything that I've written before. If you're interested, PM me and my rates are on my profile or you can check out my Ko-fi that uses the same name I use regularly, 501ar. I'm also on Twitter if you're interested.