I stepped-off and tries to slash him again. However, he still manages to parry me without even putting too much effort.

My teeth were gnashing. Angrily looking at him, as if I was like a wild animal defending myself from a hunter. He on the other hand, was just looking down at me with a lazy face. It's like he is effortless in fighting me. Then, all of a sudden, he parried my sword hard in an instant.

He was so quick that I almost didn't see him coming! As he parried, he punches me right in the stomach, and there, I spat blood. After that, he smacked me to the ground. I fell on my knees and tried to crawl back away from him, after.

My heart is beating so fast. I feel like he'll end my life the second he raise his sword once more.

Breathing heavily, I speak for myself, 'I guess this is the end of m-'

"Maybe next time, try not to attack the one who saved you." He says it with a rough voice.

My eyes opened widely in an instant. I was just... Looking at him, as if I'm speechless. He then offered his hand to help me get up.

I... I was wrong. Maybe he is a good guy, after all.

After that, he walked me all the way to his apartment to treat me and even put a bandage on my severed arm. This guy... I've been meaning to ask his name, "Who are you?"

He just looked at me, but then looked away.

"What's the deal with just saying the name? Is it a secret?"

He looked back again. But he breathe heavily to shout at me, "Why do you do vigilantism!? Huh!? What were you thinking!? Are you a hero? Are you someone who will make changes in this world!?"

"If the public learned about your sword, who do you think will take responsibility? Huh!?" He added.

He was so mad at me. He then grabbed and held my uniform, as if he is crumpling the upper part of my uniform, then pulled me near him, "If you ever do this vigilantism again, I will not save you nor anyone would come to save you." He was looking at me with a scary, glaring face as he said that.

I on the other hand, immediately got furious, "I don't need saving! Who even asked you to save me? Huh!?"

He slapped me angrily, then one-handedly grabbed my neck part of the uniform again, pulling me towards to him.

"Wake up, kid! You are not in a fantasy, you are in real life!"

He was getting so mad at me, even pushing me to ground with full force. I got hurt by his push, because I am still severely injured. Soon after that, he calmed, following it up with his words of wisdom, "You cannot save everyone in this world, not a hero, nor a God. Everyone dies, because we are only mortals."

Again, I'm speechless, but gave me idea to wake up in this idiocy I've been doing.

I looked down, "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being immature and that I still think as a kid..." I mutter, but a little loud.

I feel shy as I apologized to him. It was like different. I felt different when I apologized to him and I think that maturity just hit me. However, that's all probably just in my head.

He sighed deeply, then offered his hand for a shake.

When I look at his face, he was smiling. I was surprised.

He then said, "You cannot save everyone, but don't try to not save anyone. It is still better to help someone rather than not helping anyone at all."

I scratched my head, then nodded and shakes his hand. He is not bad at all.

He then later introduced himself, "My name is Ryu Akimoto. You can just call me Ryu."

He finally introduce himself. Ryu Akimoto is wearing black, gothic pants and plain black T-shirt. He also wears a long, black trench coat and black leather boots. He have a scabbard in the back with the sword in it, strapped around his body. He has black hair and his hairstyle is somewhat an emo style with a little shaggy on top along with long bangs that is almost covering his left eye. I could really say he is an emo.

I asked him, "Is your sword also a keychain?"

"Yes. As you can see right now, it has a belt strapped onto my body. This belt is actually part of the scabbard. So, when it turns into a keychain, I have to connect and strap the belt again."

"What is your sword?"

"You're asking too much question. Shouldn't you be at home right now?" He asked with a poker face.

I stretched my body upward, "Fine, it's late night anyways. But note this, I won't stop asking about your sword or in other words, your magical keychain."

"Magical keychain? Hahaha. Well, I guess newbies really misunderstood this as somewhat magical like from a fantasy game or movies..."

I believe he's just messing with me, or maybe there really is a name for these keychains.

As I left his empty apartment, he escorted me all the way to my house.

As we walk to get to my home, I asked him few questions, "Who attacked me?"

He sighed, "He's a low class Kuroyami no Hoda (Hoarder of the dark.) His plan is probably just to eliminate you."

"Why? Is it because of my actions? I mean, just who are they and what are they hoarding?"

"They collect keychains such as yours. They collect your so called magical keychain or sword by eliminating you, so that their organization remain invisible to the public. They also want to eliminate you, so that you will not cause distress for them."

Now I see, they are trying to keep their identity hidden, so that they remain invisible to the society. However, I still don't understand on why they are collecting these keychains. Are they somewhat collecting these as a collection or it has an importance for them that is far superior from my knowledge? Either way, I see them as bad guys for trying to kill me.

Before I enter the house, I asked Ryu one last question, "Why do they have to kill me when they could've just robbed me or just ask me to hand over the keychain?"

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Because these keychains are attached to only one master and that only the master can use the keychain and its skills. So basically, by killing the previous master, the attachment of the keychain can only then be finally transferred to a new master."

"Even if you threw the keychain away, it will not have its new holder just yet. So, no matter how many times you deny these keychains, these hoarders will still come for you to kill you. Because these keychains, are bound to you." He added.

I was speechless... After his explanation, I thanked him and said goodbye to him. He told me not to do any more vigilantism and that if anyone tries to attack me, I must be prepared. But actually, I could've learned more skills from him. He could've taught me more, so that I'll know how to defend myself, however, he already left. Sigh.

The following day, after school, I was just in my room, sitting on my bed and thinking, 'What should I do now? Now that I stopped being a vigilante? Ugh! It bores me doing nothing!'

I feel like I don't know what to do. So, I decided to go out for some fresh air. But before I left, I brought my keychain with me just in case.

I headed to the streets, to the alleys, and to almost everywhere, just to feel like I'm doing something, when suddenly, I heard swords clashing with each other as if someone is parrying an attack.

The sound is coming from the center of the alley. So, I head there as quickly as I can to see what was going on.

I saw them, but as I saw them, I hid near a dumpster first. These parts of the street doesn't seem to have much people around and that's why I thought that maybe they really picked this place for a reason.

I saw two guys; one with long trench coat and the other one has a biker-like black leather jacket. They both have long katana swords bullying a huge muscled guy with a very huge sword.

I was watching them as they fight each other. This huge guy swings his sword from left to right. He even tried a one strike blow that almost hit the ground. However, they managed to dodge it. The huge guy then focuses himself on the guy that wear a black jacket with his continuous attacks 'till they parry. I couldn't believe that he could parry such a huge sword with a thin katana without even breaking it. However, it seems that the strength of the huge guy is somehow more superior than the other guy.

The one with a long, black trench coat, then suddenly attacked him from behind. However, the guy that is being parried, was kicked and pushed to the ground.

The guy that was holding a huge sword, then swings his sword to the right and manages to parry the other guy that was about to attack him from behind. The guy that was wearing a long trench coat, chooses to parry instead of attacking. I guess he knew he'll lose his life if he chose the wrong move. However, even if he managed to parry, he is still being pushed away, because of the strength of the huge guy with his huge sword, eventually hitting the wall.

They paused for a moment, breathing heavily as they glare with one another. It seems that they got tired, or maybe because they've been fighting for hours.

These two hoarders, then suddenly come near to each other as if they're planning for a final attack. But the huge guy seems like he is preparing himself as well. Meanwhile, I hear footsteps coming from the rooftop. Maybe from the fire escapes of the residential buildings? Running towards the fight? Either way, it's coming from above.

As I look up, I saw a uniformed girl with a blue dress and a white sleeve, as if she came from the building's rooftops, performing a parkour. As she heads down through the fire escapes, towards the fight, she crosses her arm and reaches for her pocket. Two katana swords magically appeared after that. As she reaches the ground, she then swiftly slit the two hoarders with just one slash.

The two guys fell to the ground. Blood started to drip around their dead body. These two guys were slit in their throat, and she did it without even managing to slice their head off.

I was just trembling in fear. So, I hid away from them as quickly as I can. However, the girl noticed me and since she was pretty fast at running, she managed to catch me.

I'm so scared as they look at me with intent.

The huge guy then speaks calmly, "He seems like an innocent kid. Let him be."

However, the blonde girl seems to be against it, and thus wanted me dead, so I won't speak a word.

"We should kill him. He already saw our faces and might call the police about it." The blonde girl says.

I knew that somehow, they will try to kill me as well. But as they debate each other, I took my keychain and swung it. However, it did not turn into a sword. Maybe because I did not focus it into a real sword, or maybe because I am still cowering in fear. I somehow humiliated myself in front of them, and because of that, they laughed. So, I tried to focus this time 'till my sword magically appears.

"Where did you get this?" The huge guy asks.

"I bought it from the shop, Kenshi no Buki! So please, don't kill me! I beg of you!" I replied instantly with haste.

"You could've step back and run away from this kind of life. However, it seems like you're one of us now, after all, you are now part of their wanted list." He says.

I got confused. My eyebrows meet as I looked at them and asks, "Their wanted list? You mean them? The Kuroyami no Hoda?"

The huge guy nods, "Kuroyami no Hoda, hunts people with magical keychain. Basically, they kill the owner first in order to get the keychain."

The blonde girl also replied, "In other words, even if you did not choose to have these kinds of keychains, they will still kill you no matter what, and it depends if your killer is a seller or a collector."

"What she means by a collector nor a seller is that if it is a collector, he/she serves the elders of Kuroyami no Hoda and had no intention to repeat the cycle of people getting killed. However, if he/she is a seller, then he/she is basically a traitor of the Kuroyami no Hoda. Whom sells the collected keychains to various shops like Kenshi no Buki. Basically, cycle of people getting killed will just keep repeating." The huge guy added.

"How could he sell it if the keychain is attached to him?" I asks.

The huge guy replied again, "The attachment of one's keychain is through using it. No attachment will happen if you just let it be a keychain and not using it. What I mean is by not turning it into a real one."

I now figured out about these keychains and these hoarders. So, I asked one last question, "About these collectors? What's the point of collecting all these keychains? Why are they collecting it?"

The huge guy shrugged, "Who knows? Maybe they just want all of the power of the keychains."

The blonde girl, then raised her eyebrow and looked at me inquisitively, "You asked too much question! Now it's our turn to ask. How did you know the Kuroyami no Hoda? To whom did you heard it?"

I gulped and replied instantly, "To a guy wearing a black trench coat with a sword in his back."

They were in shock as if they saw a ghost.

"So it is true. The legend is real, the black swordsman is real. Where is he? We've been looking for him, how did you know him??" She asks curiously.

I told them that he saved me from a hoarder who ambushed me, and that he treated my wounds to an empty apartment, after. I literally told them everything that happened yesterday. However, I also told them that he is so secretive to some of my questions and that he never really answered my deepest questions. Basically, he only answered basic questions and that his name is Ryu Akimoto.

After listening to my story, the huge guy then asked me, "Will you join us? We wanted to be free from these hoarders. However, there is no other way, but to kill your killer first. We are planning to survive as long as we can do, and if we could beat them all, then I believe we earned our freedom."

He offered his hand for me to get up, so I grabbed it and he pulled me up.

He then introduced himself and his name is Shoto Mamuro. He is so tall, around 6'7 ft. with a short, black, spiked hair and a scar on his face(turns out to be a sword slash from a previous battle). He has huge muscles from lower to upper body, and he is wearing a black T-shirt inside with a dark-green punk vest on its outer, along with a dark gray cargo pants with black leather boots. It seems like his bloodline is somewhat foreign, giving him that large size. But that was just my theory.

After that, the girl introduces herself next. Her name is Toki Asano. She is somewhat blonde with a ponytail and a squared goggle that serves as her glasses. She has a blue student dress and a white sleeve on top with blue ascot tie. On her feet, she wears long black stockings with long black boots. Maybe she is half European, half Japanese? Her school is probably somewhere here in Tokyo. Because I somehow recognize its logo. I don't want to ask her about her school, because she might get irritated by my many questions. I can just tell by her look.

They gave me their cell number in case I need some help and in case the black swordsman showed up again. As in, why do they call him the black swordsman? I mean, almost all of the hoarders I saw was wearing black and wields a sword.

I was going to ask them, but I realized they already left. I need to head home before these hoarders showed up again. So, I ran as quickly as possible, when suddenly, I bumped on to him, the black swordsman they're talking about.

We just looked at each other, staring with one another.

Just who is this guy? Who really is he? Why do these new people I just met, knew him and even mentioned he's a legend?

What could be his backstory..?