The black-haired frowned as she walked through the hallway, stopping for the fifth time that day. Where the hell am I? Why does everywhere have to all look the same? Kyoko looked around, trying to figure out where she was, but to no avail, she was inevitably lost. Where is Takehiko? He's never here when you need him, She thought to herself, slightly annoyed. Her fist was trembling as she fought back the urge to punch the wall.
"Wahhhh~!"
Her ears perked up slightly at the sudden noise, and she lifted her head up, looking around. Her eyes landed on a small figure. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for any signs of an adult, but there was none. What kind of person leaves a child all alone in a place like this? I suppose I should help him... Kyoko walked over to the small, crying boy, stopping in front of him and bending down to the child's level. She opened her mouth.
Takehiko chuckles as he looks at the crystal orb. It showed an image of Kyoko and the child. "This will be interesting," Takehiko said, laughing.
"You really think this will be interesting?" Raija's Master, Layla said, glaring at the orb. "I believe that child is going to die by the hands of your familiar. And you know, if he dies, she dies, and that means you die."
The King said "Be quiet and watch. This is a test after all, I want to see whether she is really qualified to be a familiar and not as a threat to human society."
"You underestimate me, King, Layla," Takehiko said, becoming serious. "I'm not as stupid as to pick a familiar that would hurt humans. She's completely loyal and will not hurt that child. You will be surprised in what she can do besides killing."
"We'll see if we can trust your words. After all, actions speaks louder than words, correct?" The King said. "So we will watch."
"Are you alright, kid?" Kyoko asks, her face emotionless.
The kid sniffed and looked up to see the black-haired female, he immediately glared and asks "Who are you?"
"Kyoko, a familiar of the Forest God, Takehiko," Kyoko answered calmly, unaffected by the child's glare.
The kid laughed mockingly, "You? A familiar? Of the Forest God, Takehiko? You have got to be kidding me? You think I would fall for a trick like that, yokai?"
I don't like this kid. And why does he talk about Takehiko as if he's famous? Whatever, his opinion doesn't really matter much to me. Kyoko shrugs, "Believe me or not, I don't care for what you think, child."
"Don't call me a child!" The kid shouted in annoyance.
Kyoko pointed out, her voice blunt "If you were to tell me your name, I wouldn't have to call you a 'child'," the kid fumed.
He growled "My name is Akio, remember it!"
"Well, Akio," she said, bluntly. "What is someone like you doing out here crying?"
"I wasn't crying!" Akio said offensively while Kyoko just sighs.
Kyoko stated "Whatever you say," she sits down on the ground. "But what are you doing out here alone?"
The boy froze up slightly and looks at the ground, hugging his knees tightly. "I don't know. I was with Papa and next thing I knew, I was alone," tears gathered in his eyes.
Oh please, don't tell me he's going to start crying again, the black-haired female thought to herself, slightly annoyed. "Don't start crying, it won't help you find your father."
"I wasn't going to cry!" Akio stated, sniffing slightly.
Yeah, right. She thought to herself, sarcastically. "So, you're lost?" He nodded meekly and she sighs. "I suppose you can come with me while we search for your father. I'm lost myself - all these walls look the same to me," she said, rubbing the nape of her neck.
Akio's eyes lights up, "Really? Then let's go!" he got up and grabbed onto Kyoko's wrist, dragging her around.
Mood change, much? Oh well, at least he isn't crying. The day was spent with Kyoko being hopelessly dragged around by Akio, showing her around the places that he thought his father might be. In her opinion, he wasn't too bad as she thought he would be, but there was time when she nearly did lose her patience around him.
"I'm surprise, I thought she would've lost her patience around, spending time with that little brat - she seems to be a bit quick-tempered when we first met her," Layla commented, remembering when Kyoko ready to attack whenever the King said something even slightly offensive.
Takehiko said "She has more patience than you think. She doesn't get angry by something as petty as being annoyed by a little child. She may not have that much pride in herself, but she has more tolerance than you think and will not lose to a kid that easily."
"That may be true," The King said. "But we'll see what she does with Akio when she's pushed to the limit."
The black-haired girl's eyes darted around as she willingly followed Akio around, sensing that something was watching them, but she couldn't identify what or where it was. "Hurry up, you slowpoke!" Akio shouted, about 10 metres ahead of her.
Kyoko said, in a serious and blunt tone "Slow down, Akio. We're in no hurry, now are we? Besides, you're going to trip at this point."
Akio stuck out his tongue at him, "Yeah, whatever. You're not my mum or anything, so you can't tell me what to do!" a vein popped on Kyoko's head as Akio began running off.
"Oi!" Kyoko said, actually getting worried about the kid instead of being pissed off. She could feel something travelling towards Akio, and it was coming fast. "Move, kid!" She shouted.
She bolted towards Akio, hugging him tightly as someone gashed her left arm, pushing her back slightly. She growled, leaning on her left knee as she held Akio tightly with her right arm. "W-W-W-What j-j-j-just h-h-h-happen? A-A-A-And y-y-y-your a-arm!" Akio said, frightened as he looked at the massive amounts of blood dripping from her wound.
"Just shut up, and don't move, you got it?" Kyoko said lowly, scanning the area for her enemy. It seems it has disappeared into the environment, what kind of yokai is it? Invisible, perhaps? From the gash, it seems to have very sharp claws, a dog I say. A very hungry dog.
Her free hand unconsciously moves to her left waist, where her swords lay. Only to growl when she remembered that her swords were chained. Of all times, it had to be chained now. I could kill it barehanded, however, she glanced at the scared child in her arm. I would rather not have Akio see anymore blood and gore than there is - he'll be having nightmares everyday till the day he dies, and I'll be the one to hear an earful from Takehiko. I'll have to play on the defensive for now.
She heard growling behind her and a pouncing noise, she quickly moved to the side, dodging the attack. She moved side to side, dodging the invisible attacks coming her way. "Tch," she clicked her tongue in annoyance as the yokai nicked the side of her clothes.
"It seems she's getting annoyed," The King said, propping his chin on his hand. "I wonder what she'll do. Will she abandon Akio, my little fledgling to save her own skin, or will she sacrifice herself?" He watched intently on the crystal orb in front of him, Takehiko and Layla standing beside him.
The attack had stopped. Her eyes scanned the area, Akio clinging tightly to her. It has stopped attacking, but where the hell is it? Damn. At this rate, I'll be the mincemeat in this fight. I could use my wind powers in here, however, the wind would rebound off the walls and the little brat will get injured. The yokai has me right where it wants me to be. Useless and cornered.
A voice began booming across the room. "How pitiful. I thought the might Rogue Hunter would have given much more of a fight, but it seems the rumours are just rumours. It's just so lucky for me, now I get two meals. The little fledgling over there, and a delicious yokai to eat," the invisible yokai laughed in amusement.
Fledglings: Children that were born from gods yet do not have the mark of god. A baby god, per say.
Kyoko's brow twitched. I hate being on the weak side, the only way is to ditch this kid if I want to have a chance to win without power.... She glanced at the child. However... I'm not that type of person. So, I'll have to play gore and blood. I hope Akio's prepared. She tossed Akio over her shoulder, his face behind her. Her human-like fingernails changed into long, sharp claws, however, only her left hand transformed. Akio asks "W-What are y-y-y-you d-doing?"
Kyoko said seriously "Prepare yourself, Akio. Blood and gore will be coming your way," Akio's face paled but before he could say anything, Kyoko had gone for an attack.
She slashed forward, but she felt nothing. "Hahaha, how are you going to beat me when you can't even see me? You pathetic yokai."
She didn't say anything, instead she began running towards the voice, her ears alerted. If I can hear his movements, it'll be enough to figure out where he is and gut his stomach out. Her eyes focused, she heard the sounds of light footsteps moving around the hallway. She heard the yokai pounce off the ground from her right, just as it was a few centimetres away from landing an attack, she slashed upwards. Her claws penetrated the skin and muscles of the yokai, it became visible to the world, blood gushing out everywhere and staining the once pure white marble ground. Her eyes practically stared down at the yokai as the creature glared at her, whispering his last words before he completely disappeared. Kyoko frowned after she heard the thing's last words.
"W-What happened?" Akio asks, trying to turn around to see.
Kyoko snapped out of her thoughts, I nearly forgot he was there. She was about to turn the boy around, only to remember that her left hand and arm was covered in blood - most of them were fresh. "Nothing, let's just get going, close your eyes while you're at it," she said, beginning to walk off.
"Eh? Um, ok...," he obeyed what she said, then asked "Uh, but why?"
Kyoko didn't answer, just kept walking until the blood on the white marble ground wasn't in her sights anymore. She stopped and placed the child down on the ground, and said "You can open your eyes now."
The kid opened his eyes, and they widen. "You're injured, Kyoko! You need medical treatment!"
Kyoko shook her head, and said "I'll be fine."
"What? No way! You're bleeding everywhere!" He grabbed onto her wrist. "We're getting that treated whether you like it or not!" and he began dragging her.
Kyoko didn't resist, she willingly let him drag her around. It was not like whatever she said was going to change the fledging's mind. I'm surrounded by idiots...
The King looked at the orb in shock, before composing himself. He fake coughed, and said "Well, I didn't think she was that strong. Nor did I think she would actually protect my... Son from that yokai..."
"So, you're the father?" A voice said, sounding far.
Takehiko, Layla and King snapped their heads over to see an emotionless Kyoko with a sleeping Akio in her arms. Kyoko rubbed the back of her nape, and said emotionlessly "Some father you are," she sighs. "What kind of father leaves his son out in the middle of nowhere? Not that I know what a father is, but by your standards, I expected much more from you," she let her hand dropped by her side, revealing that it had been bandaged. "Whatever. It's not my business what you do to your kid - but next time you decide to try to test my patience, don't use your own son as a test subject. Someone of your stature should care more about his son safety, not what some filthy familiar that is a yokai does in her spare time. Meantime, take care of this kid would ya? He's been getting on my nerves for the past hour," she gently placed the child on the ground before walking off.
Layla asks "Where are you going?"
"I have some jobs to do. Because of Takehiko, King and the kid, I've wasted a good half of a day fooling around when I could have been finishing the jobs," she replied bluntly, continuing to walk.
For the rest of the day, she spent the time finishing off the jobs she was assigned to do based on her powers. However, even though she was focused on the jobs, only one thing was stuck on her mind. It was the words of the dog yokai.
"You may be strong, Rogue Hunter, but that's what's going to get you killed. Once my Master comes, you'll be on the ground, just like I am. And you'll wish you died today."
Three days until the Summit was over.