Day 1 (Combat training)

"Alright, girls. Listen up."

Me and the others sat in front of Mariko. Yuko turned out the lights as a projector displayed a few images on the screen.

"So, the people we’re facing are called *’Akuma’s. They’re called that because their humans injected with demon blood."

"They’re, like, mutants?"

"Something like that. They’re demon worshippers and specialize in dark magic."

I remembered that guy Kaiba who attacked us. Even though he was wearing a long sleeve jacket and gloves, I could feel something strong surrounding them.

And that wolf, there were strange marks on him. I wonder what they mean…

"Um, Mariko-san." I spoke up.

"Yes?"

"About Kaiba… is there anything we should know about him? Something that may help us."

Nagisa hugged me from behind. “Nice! Sasuga Leader~”

"Well, he’s very smart and clever, and loyal to the *Demon Lord. He can be very persistent to defeat us."

"So what’s his weak point?" Miki said.

"Meru’s been reading all the manga. Every villain has a weak point," Meru said beside her, flipping through her manga.

"Well, since he’s loyal and hates losing, he becomes arrogant. He’ll start to lose his temper more and more, and eventually, BOOM!"

Mio giggled. “BOOM goes the dynamite!”

"Exactly, Mio-chan!"

"How else can we defeat them?"

Another slide came up showing markings that looked similar to the ones on the wolf.

"Normally, they’d have these markings on them to increase their demon powers. It’s their strongest in aura, but still can become very vulnerable to physical damage."

"It’s like a target…" Ryoha said, looking at them.

"Up, you aim for it like the bullseye of a target."

"Bullseye~" Mio chirped happily.

"So, what about that giant wolf he had?"

"That was his familiar. An animal companion under Kaiba’s command."

More like a slave…

"That wolf is an *ookami. The chains binding it and markings on its skin must mean he’s controlling it forcefully."

Honestly, I felt a bit sorry for the wolf. If he was controlling it, then that means it’s not hurting people on purpose.

Animal abuse is animal abuse, even when it’s an ookami.

"But that’s not all." Another slide came up. It showed silhouettes of five people. "The Demon Lord has more minions at his side, watching Earth."

"Five of them, including Kaiba, huh?"

"We don’t know who could attack, where it could happen, or when they’ll arrive. So we gotta be ready."

Yuko switched the lights on and smiled at us.

"Now then, let’s get to training!"

"Hai!"

…..

A woman with long, red hair watched over the image of Tokyo, Kaiba walking through the streets. She sneered as her ruby lips touched the glass of wine she held in her hand.

"Honestly, why doesn’t he just go after those girls?" she said tiredly. "He has to have it all figured out, so he can impress our Lord.”

Another figure with pink pigtails smiled, showing a small fang.

"If it were me, I’d go out there and smash the entire building!" she said, knocking on her large hammer at her side.

A small giggle echoed. A little boy with short, blonde hair smiled creepily as he hugged his teddy bear.

"I wanna play… with onee-chan-tachi."

"Hehe…" A large muscly man with a purple Mohawk cracked his knuckles. "I’d love to teach those girls a lesson."

The four heard an unfamiliar laugh mocking them in the darkness.

"That would be no good."

A male figure with dark green hair tied in a small ponytail and glasses over his green eyes walked in.

"Who are you?"

"Yeah! And how’d you even get in here?!"

"My name is Kyoya. I work as a messenger for my master. I have various ways of accomplishing my work, Isako-san, Momo-chan."

"How do you know our names?"

"I’ve studied all about the demon worshippers, little Hayate-kun. I have a degree in demonology."

The muscled man sneered. “So, you’re human.”

"That is somewhat correct, Nagato-kun. I gave up my humanity long ago."

"So, what are you? If you’re not human, are you demon?"

"I am neither. I am merely a servant to my master."

"And who’s that?"

Kyoya just smiled and pushed up his glasses before leaving.

"You shall know soon…" his voice said before fading into the darkness.

…..

Yuko opened up the door to the special training room. When we walked in, the first thing we saw was a young woman giving a punching bag a real beating. She had such fire in her eyes, it was kinda scary.

“Yui~” Yuko walked up to the girl and handed her a towel.

“Ah, Yuko-han. What’re ya up to?”

Eh? An Osaka dialect…

“Sugoi~!” I looked and saw Nagisa’s eyes sparkling. “You have a fluent Kansai accent!”

“Ah, y’all girls must be the ones I’m trainin’. Tentomu chu, right?”

“That’s right.” Yuko introduced us. “They’re the ones. Girls, this is Yui. She’ll be your trainer. Just like Nagisa-chan, she moved here from Kyoto, so she has a fluent Kansai dialect.”

“Tokyo’s definitely a bit different than Kyoto, but I just couldn’t turn down Mariko when she gave me the offer. Workin’ for Akihabara48 is a really big deal.”

Nagisa was smiling like an idiot as she walked up and shook Yui’s hands rapidly.

"It’s so great to finally meet someone from Kyoto! What’s it like over there? You have to be rich or somethin’ to live in a place like that!"

"Not at all, really. My family just lives in a small part of Kyoto."

"Oh, this is so excitin’! I’ve got so many questions!"

Mariko tugged on her shirt and pulled her back from the older girl.

"Hai hai~"

"Mou~, Mariko-han"

Yui giggled a bit at their reaction and looked at me. I think I saw something in her eyes light up.

"Ah, you’re…"

"Hm?"

She walked up to me and looked at me closely, smiling.

"Well, well…" she grinned and took my hand. "I can already see somethin’ special bout you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

“Alright, let’s start combat training!” Mariko said, clapping her hands to get our attention.

“Hai!”

…..

The first thing we did was change into our training uniforms. When that was done, we went to a special training room where the others could watch us and not get hurt if things got out of control.

Using our rings, we summoned our weapons. Mine, of course, was the Ruby Sword. Everyone else had something different.

Nana was a Aquamarine Spear, Miki had Topaz Daggers, Ryouha was holding an Emerald Bow and Arrows, Nagisa had a large Sapphire Shield, Meru had a Citrine Hand gun, and Mio had Pink Diamond Throwing stars.

Mariko pushed a button and a few target statues appeared. They circled us as we prepared our weapons and faced them.

"Begin!"

Nana was the first to go. She used her spear to slice down the targets and stab a few in the chest. She was so concentrated about her reflexes. Just as always, so diligent.

Miki went after her. She was really fast and threw the knifes right at the targets. She even hit one and cut its head off.

Sugoi~

"Who knew Miki-chan could move so fast?"

However, when she came back, she clung onto Nana, catching her breath.

"That wore me out…"

"Didn’t look like it."

Ryouha went up next. We were all amazed to see she shot them down no problem, all hitting het bullseye.

We applauded to her, and she coolly flipped her hair and smiled.

"That was awesome, Ryouha-tan!"

Ryouha blushed a bit and giggled shyly, hiding her face again.

"My turn!" Nagisa headed up and held up her shield. She literally ran through all the targets and rammed them into the wall.

Little much?

Meru came up happily, clicking her trigger. I didn’t think that someone Meru’s age would be able to handle a gun.

But surprisingly, she was pretty good with her aim and was able to get a few shots. She cheered happily as she shot down her last one.

Mio was the last one up, but she looked a bit unconfident.

"Ganbare, Mio-chan!" Meru yelled to support her. Me and the others joined in.

"H-here I go!"

Shutting her eyes tight, she took out her throwing stars, which I noticed now where shaped like sakura flowers, and started throwing them.

They went flying everywhere, and I was afraid she was gonna hit one of us, but then I saw they actually turned and were able to hit the targets.

It was like they were heat seeking missiles that could hit the target no matter where it was thrown. All the time, Mio kept her eyes closed, not noticing.

She threw her last throwing star and hit the target perfectly. Still nervous, she slowly opened one of her eyes.

"Did I do it?"

When she saw she had hit all the targets, she cheered happily and ran up to Meru and hugged her. I could see tears of joy flowing down her cheeks.

"Nice job, girls!" Marko’s voice rang on the intercom. "But we’re not done yet. Let’s go one more round!"

"Hai!"

…..

Words written down on paper, the smell of fresh ink against ancient, tinted pages. They flip through the book and close, sealing up the secrets inside.

Kyoya fastens the clasp and keeps the leather material closed, tightly sealing the paper inside. He smiles as he puts away his feather pen and ink.

Getting up and walking down the large hall, books stacking the shelves, he walks up the stairs and kneels to the figure in front of him.

"Master…"

The figure facing his back to him turned his head slightly.

"It is almost time."

"Has everything been put into motion?"

"Yes, Master."

A smile curved his lips. “Good. Continue the preparations. Everything must be perfect by the time of the coronation.”

"Of course. I’ll get right on it."

==========================

Footnotes

*1. Akuma - The name of a demon worshipper. They are humans who have compacted with the Devil, either by trading away their soul to him or being injected with demon blood. They are able to use powerful dark magic.

*2. Demon Lord (Side note: Alternate names; Maou, Demon King) - The overlord of Hell. He is a being of darkness, wishing to take over Earth. He attacked Queen Muse, but was sealed away before he could kill her.

*3. Ookami - A large wolf that is said to be the offspring of Amaterasu(the God of the Sun, after he was turned into a wolf). They are gentle and loyal to their Masters, but can be strong in combat.