Kaey looked angrily at Kikaru and David. They were both very shocked by what he told them. ‘Harm this place? Why would we do that!’ David thought to himself.
It took a few seconds for Kikaru to regain his composure. He tried to not stumble on his words. “W-why would we harm this place? We didn’t.. do anything…” He said in a very soft voice.
Kaey just kept looking at them through his shaded glasses. “I have no need to explain my reasoning, leave this village now or I will make you, that I will.”
David frowned in response. He stood in front of Kaey, who was a head taller than him. He cracked his knuckles.
“Look, dude. You don’t have any right to assume that we would harm your village. We even helped your apprentice out today, where were you then?” David wasn’t intending to fight, but he did tell Kaey what he thought about this sudden revelation.
This only made Kaey seemingly more angry. “Don’t lie to me, I got a message that my village was being threatened. The only strangers right now are you two, walking out with your swords on your hip, that you are.”
“So you just think we would cause mayhem all because of a message? How would that even relate to us?”
This was beginning to escalate, Kikaru began to get a bad feeling. He had frozen when David started talking to Kaey, but he knew he should do something. He doesn’t want to start an unnecessary fight. He clenched his right hand tight.
“But if you wanna go at it, have at me!” David raised his fists, Kaey responding soon after.
Kikaru opened his mouth, but before he could say anything he heard a shout in the distance.
“STOP! MASTER!” It was the voice of Han, bolting towards Kaey.
He stood in front of him, a bit of out of breath. Arms spread out to protect David. “These two.. they haven’t done anything! They both helped me with the lost cat, they’re good people!”
Kaey lowered his fists immediately. “Is that so?”
David lowered his fists too, the threat of a fight disappeared.
“My humble apologies, strangers. I’ve been feeling on edge lately, that I have.” Kaey bowed in front of them.
“It’s.. it’s okay.” Kikaru said, feeling way less tense.
Kaey observed both strangers once more. He looked specifically at Kikaru’s head. “White hair.. is that natural?” He asked him.
Kikaru went silent for a few seconds. “Yes.” He responded afterwards.
Both Kikaru and David introduced themselves afterwards. Kaey reintroduced himself too, after the sudden encounter. The four of them were now sitting on 2 benches in the park, right next to each other.
“What’s this note about?” Kikaru broke the silence, his curiosity getting to him. He had both his hands clamped together.
David wasn’t as nervous as Kikaru, but he unconsciously had placed his hand over the handle of his right sword.
Kaey grabbed the note out of a small bag that he had and began reading it for the three of them.
“We, followers of infinity, will come to this town. Surrender now or face death.”
It was short, but very effective. It had put Kaey on edge for the past week. He chose to keep it a secret to Han, not wanting to worry him.
David, Kikaru and Han all looked very shocked. Such a threatening note, no wonder that Kaey was on edge.
“Followers of Infinity.. seems that they’re chasing it too… however.. this is wrong…” Kikaru said, a somber feeling building up inside him. His eyes looked at the ground.
David fell silent for a bit. The same for Han, pure silence fell on all them.
Until Kikaru Suddenly stood up. “No! I won’t allow that. David, you agree with me on this, right? We should help Kaey! Infinity isn’t meant for people like that!” He gripped his sword tightly. A fire in his eyes burned bright, the somber feeling turning into rage.
“Yeah! You’re right!” David responded, his will to fight burning brightly too.
Han looked at Kaey, who began to show a small smile on his face. This shocked him, as he hadn’t seen Kaey smile like that in a long time.
“This is for me to deal with, that it is. You two should find a place to sleep for the night, that you must.” He just replied, standing up and walking into the shopping district behind him.
Han stood up too. “Sorry for Master, he’s usually like this, he doesn’t talk that much. Don’t take it personally. There’s a place you can sleep at two streets from here, good night!” He ran off to presumably his house.
A few minutes later the both of them walked into the hostel, it was a small mostly wooden place. They both bought a single room to sleep in, sharing the place. Once inside the room Kikaru instantly went into the bathroom to take a hot shower. David just fell asleep on the bed the moment he laid on it.
Kikaru washed his face, looking at the mirror once more, thinking of what Kaey asked him. “No, this hair isn’t natural...” He thought to himself as he washed it. He opted not to think too much about his past, knowing that it would only sadden him more.
Kikaru walked out of the bathroom, he heard David snoring. He just smiled at how easily that man could fall asleep. He put his sword right next to his bed, in case anything would happen. While laying in bed Kikaru began to think about Kaey. “I could hear something somber within him… What is he doing right now?” He looked out the window, into the moonlit sky.
Kikaru couldn’t sleep just yet, so he opened up his diary. He began writing down what he did today, filling up several pages. A smile was on his face all the while. He put the diary back inside his bag, and noticed another small notebook.
“Right.. from back then. I brought it along.”
He hesitated for a moment, but couldn’t bring himself to open it.
He fell asleep soon afterwards, as the beautiful night continued on. The whole town was asleep, except for Kaey. He was walking on the empty streets doing his usual routine. Even while it was pretty dark outside, he would never take off his shaded glasses. A look of determination was on his face, the content of the note looming in the back of his head.
“They will not touch this place. It saved me, I owe my life to him and them.”
Meanwhile, a group of 3 people were gathering just outside the village. Their outfits matched, all wearing a red jacket with a heart on it. “This is the place, right?” The first person said, her voice being a high pitch.“Yes, this is where the boss told us to go.” The second person said. His voice was standard, nothing unique to it.
“We shall break the guardian.” The third person said. His voice being deeper than the rest.
June 11th, Taru Village, Japan. 6:30
David woke up earlier than Kikaru, looking at the sun that was still rising. He stood up and took a quick shower. After putting his regular clothes on and his jacket, he began doing his usual routine. He first went outside to jog, his swords still on his hip. This was something he always did, usually with brothers. He stopped at the park where they met Kaey yesterday. While standing under the largest tree there, he unsheathed his swords.
He began slashing both of them in the air, as if he was fighting someone. He was being very nimble, yet also careful to not damage anything in his surroundings. This was a technique his family used called “Shadow Swordfighting.”
He finished his training off with a backflip and a quick double slash, as if he had defeated the opponent. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he had a smile on his face. “This is way less fun without my bros.” He said as he sheathed his swords.
He began walking back towards the hostel, the town was beginning to get more and more lively. He saw the old lady from yesterday walking with her husband, it seemed they were doing a morning walk. David then began to think back. “Wait.. Their house had the name ‘Yung’ on the wall… are they his parents?”
David walked up to them. “Good morning!”
The old lady was holding the hand of her husband. “Good morning, young man. You’re up early for your age.” She said, a soft smile was on her face.
David let out a small laugh. “I usually do my training routine in the early morning. It’s become a habit.” He then began thinking, before a lightbulb suddenly turned on inside his head.
“I never introduced myself. My name’s David Yūki.” He scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit stupid that he forgot his manners yesterday.
“Ho-ho-ho. We forgot to introduce ourselves too. My name is Fen Yung, my husband here is named Hu Yung.”
“Nice to meet ya.” David tried to be as formal as possible, although his usual manners spilled out a bit. They all laughed afterwards.
“Oho, speak of the devil.” Hu said, pointing in the distance.
Walking towards the three of them was Kaey. He hadn’t slept the entire time yet it wasn’t visible on his face. David could get a better look of him now that it wasn’t midnight. He noticed that his hands had visible marks on them. His right hand seemed to have a tattoo on it, but David couldn’t get a full look of it. He was also way taller than both his parents, who were pretty short.
“Good morning, Mom, Dad. Seems the sun is going to shine brightly today, that it is.” Kaey spoke with more emotion than what he showed yesterday.
He saw David standing with his parents. Knowing that his parents are very open to strangers, it didn’t surprise him that they befriended the yellow eyed stranger. Kaey didn’t say anything to David though, not because of a feeling of hatred or contempt but because he had nothing to say.
“I reported to the chief. I’m going to sleep now, have a great day.” He walked to his house in the other street.
“Is this what he does every day as a guardian?” David asked.
“Yes, our son takes his role as guardian very seriously. He’s awake all night, doing some things for the local farm here, or helping people that are still awake. There hasn’t been an incident here in 10 years, yet he never lets his guard down.”
David’s heart suddenly sank when he realized that Kaey really didn’t tell anyone about the note. “He can’t take that all on himself.”
“What about the village chief… Is there a way I can see him.”
Hu slightly opened his eyes more, speaking in a tone that was way more serious than before.
“You have to pass 3 sacred trials of increasing difficulty. The crane trial, the mantis trial and the lion trial. These trials will take years to prepare. Someone like you can’t just meet hi-” He suddenly got interrupted by a slap on the back from Fen.
“Ignore my husband, he likes to make jokes. The chief lives right near the shrine, you’re free to visit him whenever he’s awake. Don’t be intimidated by him, he’s very kind.” Fen looked with a smile of gratitude at David.
“Thank you, miss. I’m going back to my friend now, have a great day.” David did a quick bow out of respect before running back to the hostel.
Fen waved goodbye towards David as he run of into the distance. Hu looked at his wife, rubbing his back from the slap that he received.
“Why are you helping him so much, Fen?” He asked her in Chinese.
“Doesn’t he remind you of our son. His eyes tell me everything, they’re flaming.” She responded back in Chinese.
