A Beautiful Day |Books#1-4| Unedited Version

Chapter One: The Ninja of Shadows

Flying in the air, Kotaro felt eager to face Joe. Yet at the same time, he worried. He was a bit anxious in fighting. He was very limited in fighting since he only wielded the Runeblade, given by Yuuki. Kotaro also couldn't fly like everyone else was. Kotaro was completely vulnerable.

As he looked down, he saw a silhouette that seemed to be following him. Whether it was his eyes playing around with him, Kotaro saw the silhouette jumping onto the next tree after another. It was coming to him. Kotaro closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he opened them right back. His eyes were widened, able to catch a clear view of the silhouette. It was a human jumping high in the air, trying to reach their arm to Kotaro.

"Uh, Maya, what do we do with that guy?" Kotaro asked. Maya stopped flying in the air. She saw the man trying to reach Kotaro. Quickly, Maya ascended further into the sky. The mysterious man was so close to grabbing hold of Kotaro's legs. If it wasn't for Maya's evasive reaction, the man would've succeeded.

Maya descended to the ground. The others joined her; they descended to the ground. Once Maya landed on the ground, she waited patiently for the man to approach her. Kotaro tried preparing himself for the fight, but he didn't have his Runeblade with him. Somehow, the Runeblade magically appeared in Kotaro's hand. Kotaro wasn't sure how he was able to do it, but he was finally ready to fight now.

The bushes started shaking. Kotaro remained calm, not hesitating a little. He saw a shadowy figure moving in front of him. Kotaro stayed in a defensive stance, ready for any dangers ahead.

"Stop! I come in peace," a voice confirmed. Kotaro lowered his guard. The man approached Kotaro. The man had short green hair, with bright hazel eyes. He also had claws hanging on his arms. Kotaro saw him as a ninja upon the first impression. Kotaro quickly returned into his defensive stance. The man dropped his weapons on the ground. They were only shurikens and kunais. "I wish you no harm."

Kotaro didn't trust him. He still remained in his defensive stance, ready to strike back no matter what. Maya walked in front of Kotaro. "It's okay, Kotaro. As long as I'm here, he won't hurt you!" Maya said. Kotaro decided to let his guard down. "What's the Fourth Ranai in line doing here?"

Kotaro was curious to what Maya meant by Fourth Ranai. The ninja pointed at Kotaro. "I wish to see the Outsider myself. That is all," he confirmed. Kotaro didn't know why the ninja wanted to see him. The ninja inspected Kotaro. "Hmm? He doesn't look strong.....oh well, he looks worthy to serve!" he said. Kotaro thought about what the ninja said, worthy. He wondered what the ninja meant by worthy. "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Ranai Kirigakure."

Ranai shook Kotaro's hand. "What did you mean by worthy to serve?" Kotaro asked.

"Hmm? Worthy to serve? Isn't that obvious?" Ranai replied, "I am your service, your bodyguard, your retainer, and I'll protect you from harm- even if it costs my own life, I'll protect you," It was loyal of Ranai, but Kotaro didn't understand why the ninja would do such extreme activity to protect his own life. "There is no particular reason why I want to serve you."

"Okay?" Kotaro responded, unable to comment anything else. "we're on our way to fight Joe. Are you willing to join?" he added. Ranai replied with a nod. "Okay, let's go then!" Maya carried Kotaro into the air. Ranai remained on the ground as he started climbing on the trees after another. Kotaro was glad to have more allies to join in the fight. 

As they hurried their way to Joe's home, something seemed to be troubling Maya the whole entire time. She felt like someone was watching her. It was obviously not Ranai, but someone else who was watching them. She could feel their powers watching her. At first, Maya thought it was Yuuki. It was until Maya sensed another aura surrounding around the air. This aura didn't belong to Yuuki.