Chapter 1: LOST n FOUND

[Takemaru]

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And so it begins...
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A few miles off of the coast of Hi no Kuni there lies a small village by the name of Sakitama. It was a cozy little town with only a handful of people. Everything within the village was within walking distance of each other, and everyone seemed to know each other by name. Yes, it was a peaceful place that had miraculously avoided the cruel clutches of the wars long past. However, for the past year, a mysterious man had taken up lodging in the forest surrounding the village. He kept mostly to himself, but at least once times a month he would emerge from the forest to purchase supplies. When in the village he never spoke, simply taking what he wanted and leaving the money on the counter. It didn't take long for the villagers to begin spreading rumors amongst themselves about this mysterious man. They had even gone as far as giving him the name him Onireikoku, or "Cold-hearted Ogre." For fun, the children would often dare each other to go to Onireikoku's wooden shack as a sign of bravery. Our story begins by following just such a dare...

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"B-but...Saikō-chan..."

The voice of a young boy, no older than eleven, whimpered as shyly pushed away the branches in front of his face. His whole body seemed to quake with each step forward he took. Tears threatened to form along the edges of his eyes, but through sheer willpower he seemed to keep them at bay.

"L-let's go back, Saik--WAAH!!"

Before the kid could finish his sentence two hands slammed against his back and pushed him to the ground. Landing face first the tears that he tried to force back began to stream down his face as he began to sob softly. An annoyed groan came from behind the boy and grabbed him by the back of his shirt collar.

"If you're really a boy then stop crying! Grow a pair already! I'm tired of having to defend your ass!"

The voice of Saikō barked as she continued on ahead of the boy. She appeared to be around the same age as the boy, if not just a year older, and was very tomboyish in nature. Her long unkempt black hair was a contrast from the boy's short, brushed brown hair. With a stick in hand she slashed at the bushes in front of her, clearing a path.

"B-but--!!"

"NO BUTS!! We're going to Onireikoku's house, Kōji" Saikō barked as she stomped her foot on the ground. Balling her fists she walked over to sobbing boy and started to drag him. "And we're going to bring back proof. That way, maybe, they'll finally get off your case."

"But, Saikō-chaaaan...."

"NO BUTS!!

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"It's gonna be late if we don't head back now, Saikō-chan...," Kōji whined as he was pulled up a hill by the forceful girl. She, of course, would hear nothing of the sort and continued dragging him deeper and deeper into the forest. "We've been out here for two hours, and still haven't--"

"Found it!" she boasted as a wide grin slide across her face. Pulling him next to her she forced him to crouch down as she did the same. Peeping through a couple of bushes she pointed to a small wooden structure. "See that cabin right there? That's his place."

"O-okay...not let's go..."

"Are you stupid? Anyone can say that they've been to Onireikoku's house," she said as she reached behind her back and pulled out some binoculars. Zooming in onto the building she searched for any signs of its owner's presence. Seeing nothing the grin she held turned into a devilish smirk. "We're going to prove that we've been here. Now come on!"

"Hey those are my--AHH!!"

Once again the girl had latched her hand around his arm and was dragging him behind her. Racing down the hill she slowed down as they drew closer to the house. Stealthily they moved to the side of the house. All the while Kōji was frantically looking around for any signs of Onireikoku, his whole body trembling at this point.

"Jackpoooot! He's really not home," Saikō whispered as she looked through the cabin's window. "This is perfect. Let's go," she said as she dragged him to the door, and slowly slid it open. Quickly moving into the building she slid the door shut. "Wooooooow," that was all she could say as she walked around the practically barren building.

"Saikō-chan..."

"Yeah, yeah," she said as she pulled out a camera. "Can you believe it? This guy doesn't even sleep on a bed. Maybe he really is inhuman...," slowly moving around the room she took more and more pictures. There was no furniture in the house, no bathroom, and the only thing that could be considered a kitchen was the pot sitting in the middle of the building. If someone wanted to live with the bare essentials this was the place.

"W-we should leave soon, Saikō-chan..."

"Relax," Saikō said as she took a few more pictures. "It's not like Onireikoku's going to just waltz back into this place. He's probably out looking for some random merchants to devour," she would say as she lifted up the lid of the pot, almost hoping to find bones of some sort. "But, alright. Let's get out of here. We have more than enough pro--" as she walked past Kōji, who hadn't moved since entering, to the door she heard a thud from outside. At that moment the door slid open, and standing before the two children was a massive figure. Standing at nearly six feet two the man known as Onikeikoku narrowed his single visible eye on the children.

"RUN!![/b]" Saikō screamed as she dropped everything, and grabbed hold of Kōji's hand. Rushing the door they managed to slip past Onikeikoku. Just as they exited the cabin Kōji managed to look back. His eyes widened as he spotted the camera and binoculars on the cabin's floor.

"Saikō-ch--!"

"SHUT UP AND RUN, KŌJI!"

And like that the two children disappeared into the forest...

『 Chapter End 』

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[Takemaru]

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"RUN, RUN, RUN!!"
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Panting heavily the two children raced through the woods. Jumping over fallen trees, busting through bushes, hurdling over any obstacle that threatened to impede their path. The two of them didn't even dare think of looking to see in Onireikoku was chasing them. Thoughts of what would happen were he to catch them raced through their minds, and only served as fuel for them to run that much faster.

"I told you this was a bad idea!!" Kōji cried out as a stream of tears poured out from his eyes. At some point during their running he had taken the lead. See, if there was one thing that Kōji learned from all his times of being bullied it was how to run fast. "He's going to kill us!!"

"SHUT UP!!

[/b]" Saikō roared as she busted through a bush. She was panting heavily, clearly tired out from all of this running, but there was no way in hell she was going to stop. "We wouldn't have even needed to do this if you weren't such a wuss!! You let Ryuza and his little chronies walk all over you!! Making you but them their curry bread and--AHH!" as she yelled on her attention had diverted from the path ahead of her, allowing herself to get clipped up by a tree root. Plummeting to the ground she would tumble a little ways before landing flat on her face.

"Saikō-chan!" Kōji called out in surprise as he looked back to see her on the ground. His first suspicion was that Onireikoku had hit her with some kind of attack, a thought that sent a cold shiver down his spine. Though, when he saw the girl trying to pick herself up he quickly ran to her aide. "Are you okay, Saikō-chan?" he asked as he grabbed onto her arm to help her stand.

"I'm sick of it. Always having to chase them off when they're picking on you. It makes me sick watching them treat you like some kind of slave," she said as she leaned forward to rub her ankle. Applying some pressure to her leg she tested to see if there was any serious damage. When she confirmed there was none she dusted herself off, and looked the smaller boy in his eyes. "When're you gonna stand up for yourself?"

Kōji's eyes widened for a moment whens he asked him the question. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words would come. "Don't worry about it. Some day I'm going to become a hero of justice," that's what he wanted to say to her. That's what he wanted to believe himself, but even he knew how foolish it sounded. Turning his head away from her in shame he looked back to the direction that they had just ran from. "I-I don't think that he's following us...," pointing at the absence of a deranged lunatic leaping towards them, ready to cook them for his dinner.

"You're hopeless...at least we have the pictures. Now Ryuza will have to back off of you.," was all she'd say before placing her hands on her waist. A confused look crossed her face when she did so, and she quickly began to pat herself down. "No...," she'd say quietly to herself before frantically searching the ground where she fell. "Nononono...NOOOO!" she'd cry out as she dropped to her knees. "It's gone...the camera's gone!"

"...You dropped it when Onireikoku showed up..."

"W-what!? You saw it happen and you didn't say anything!?"

"I-I tried to! But..."

"Argh! You really are hopeless!" Saikō yelled as she tossed her hands in the air and started to walk back towards the village. "That's it...I'm going home."

"Huh? W-wait for me, Saikō-chan...!"

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...Meanwhile
^{Sakitama Gai}
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"I don't think you quite understand me, old man..."

A sinister figure would say as he slowly walked towards a middle aged man, who he had been knocked to the ground. The villainous man's hand then moved to grasp the hilt of his katana, and in one swift motion freed it from its prison. Placing the edge of the blade against the terrified man's neck he turned his head to look at an elderly man standing in front of a building. Before speaking a sadistic grin slid across his face.

"Tell me what I want to know. Or I'll start killing your precious villagers one-by-one!"

The villagers that had all be gathered and bound in the village forum all let out terrified gasps at the man's threat. The man's subordinates, all wearing red and black shinobi garb, attempted to silence the captive villagers with threatening gestures. However, it only seemed to make the sobs of the women and children that much harder.

The elderly man's knuckles began to turn white as he tightened his grip on his cane. He glared at the long haired villain and then looked at his captured villagers. His mind was racing as he tried to think of what he could do right now. After a long pause he would lower his head and look at the ground. "I cannot...," the old man said solemnly.

"Tch, fine! Then I'll start off with--!!" the villainous man said as he raised his katana in the air. A look of pure sadistic joy was on his face as he watched the middle-aged man's face turn pale. Just as he was about to bring his arm down, ready to cleave the man in half, a small rock hit him in the back of his head. Quickly turning around his eyes narrowed onto Kōji. "...You," he uttered darkly as he kicked off towards the boy.

"RUN KŌJI!![/b]" the middle aged man would roar to his son.

"KŌJI!![/b]" Saikō cried out from behind their hiding spot.

Their words would fall upon deaf ears. From the moment that the man had turned to face him Kōji's body was locked by fear. All he could do was watch as the man closed the distance between in a matter of seconds. His eyes moved up to see the man's blade rise up above his head. Tears began to well up inside of his eyes as he could do nothing but watch, knowing that death was only seconds away. Closing his eyes before the blade hit could only think of one thing...

Is this really how I'm supposed to die?

CLANG!

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the village. Everyone was in state of shock as the sound began to die out. Slowly opening his eyes Kōji looked up in utter bewilderment. A shadowed figure stood before him entered in a swordlock with the boy's would-be murderer. Kōji's eyes widened as he realized just who this man before him was.

"Y-you!?"

『 Chapter End 』

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