Sato and Ai were walking through the village in an awkward silence. They haven't spoken since last night.

"Sato I wanna learn how to fight. Will you teach me?" Ai had asked him.

"I'm sorry Ai but no." Sato tried to make this sound nice. "The whole pint of protecting you is so you won't get hurt. If I let you fight, you'll always end up getting hurt."

"But you can't fight by yourself!" Ai retorted. "Or else every time, it'll end up like tonight!"

Sato sighed as he looked up at the dark might sky. "I can handle myself Ai. I don't want you getting hurt again. It's already risky enough that I let you follow me. Stick to staying behind me."

"Don't tell me what to do!" Ai screamed at him.

"I'm just trying to keep you safe! "He screamed back.

"And I'm just trying to help you! The White haired Bakemono yelled.

"Hey easy you two." Hibiki tried to calm them down. "You should be happy. Thanks to you guys, Sihalia can go back to normal. "By the way. King Goro of Miriea Kingdom has asked for your help. I assume Kaoru's taken over there as well. The cave in between here and Woodlake village has been torn down so it should be quick getting to Fairport City.

Sato finally broke the silence as they walked across the port. "So Ai? Which Sacred Key do you think this Kaoru is going to have?"

Ai ignored him as they walked onto the boat. Sato desperately tried to make conversation. "It's been a long time since we've been here, huh? Last time we didn't even get to ride the boat."

Ai took out a pen and notebook from her purse and scribbled down something. She showed it to Sato, it read, "I'm not talking to you. Asshole."

Sato sighed, "Fine, whatever." The purple haired teen walked over to take a seat. Next to him was a familiar face only with sunglasses on. "Bunka?" He clarified.

Bunka took his sunglasses off. "Oh, Sato! Long time no see. You've grown quite famous here."

Sato grinned proudly. "Yeah I know. So what are you doing here? Sato wondered.

"I'm here on vacation. I asked Kiyoshi to run the village for me while I'm gone. SO where are your little friends?"

Sato grimaced, "Well Sakura and Arashi have been kidnapped. So me and Ai are looking for them." His sad expression quickly transitioned to an angry one. "And Ai's just being a brat!"

Bunka nodded, "The little one? How old is she now?"

Sato didn't really wanna keep talking about Ai but he answered Bunka anyway. "She's thirteen."

Before Bunka had a chance to respond, Sea Demon Bakemono shot out of the water splashing all over the passengers outside. "That's my cue!" Bunka zoomed inside.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Sato sighed, "You can never rely on that guy for back up." He then looked down at the blue sea. "I'm beginning to think you have it for me you dumb ocean!"

Sato stopped yelling when the Sea Demon Bakemono swung one of its tentacles down onto Sato. Sato quickly caught it with both his hands clasping on. "Damn Sea Demon Bakemono! Get the hell out of here!" Sato tightened his grip on the tentacle and pulled hard enough so that he could rip it off.

The Sea Demon roared in anger and pain. It shot out blue ink at Sato who quickly redirected the attack with the severed tentacle. Sato then proceeds to swing the tentacle at the Sea Demon, whose face was now covered in its own blue ink. Sato continuously slaps its head back and forth like he was swatting a fly. "Get out of here!"

Ai peeks out the door. "Well, he's sure having fun." She sighed.

Sato sat down on top of the Sea Demon. "Hey, Sailor dude! I got some dinner for everyone."

A little while later after everyone surprisingly did eat the Sea Demon Bakemono for dinner. Sato woke Ai up. "Hey, Ai. Come on, wake up."

"I'm not talking to you." She mumbled in her sleep.

Sato sighed, "Fine you win. I'll teach you to fight."

Ai bolted up, "Really?"

"Yeah, sure. Now can you please tell me where the bathroom is?" Sato asked bending over.

Ai giggled, "Its right down the hall. Really Sato, pay attention. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Sato smiled before running for the restroom.

The next morning, Sato and Ai woke up early before their boat docked. Sato was stretching, "So Ai, you ready for your first lesson?"

"You bet I am!" The Magic Bakemono piped up, her bright red eyes sparkling.

"Okay first punches and kicks are essential in hand to hand combat. And dodging and blocking are just as important." Sato informed her. "But we'll start with the attacks."

Ai nodded, "Right!"

"I asked the Ship's Captain to set up some training dummies for us." Sato showed Ai to the dummies. "Okay, first watch me." Sato brought back his fist, then quickly rotated it while striking the dummy straight in its center, his fist busted through the dummy. "The key is rotation. Now you try."

Ai nodded eagerly, "Okay, here I go!" Ai punches the dummy. "Ow! How come it didn't go through?"

"You forgot to rotate your fist." Sato explains.

"My hand hurts." Ai complains.

Sato laughs, "It's okay, you'll get used to it after a while."

The sun began to rise as passengers walked out of the room. "We are now docked at Miriea Kingdom." The Captain informs everyone over a loudspeaker.

As Sato and Ai prepare to leave, Bunka runs up to them. "Bunka? What do you want?" Sato wonders.

"I never got to see the little one." Bunka explains as he looks at Ai. "Wow, you still look exactly the same." Bunka comments staring at Ai's flat chest. "Maybe you're just a late bloomer."

Sato's eyebrow twitches, "Bunka, stop being a perv!" Sato dropkicks Bunka, causing the Speed Bakemono's face to smash into the floor.

"Come on, it's noto like I did anything to her." Bunka whines."

Sato sighs, "Either way, I don't trust you. Come on Ai, let's get going." Sato and Ai walk off the ship and into Miriea Kingdom.

Meanwhile on a spaceship floating in mid-air where the man in a bulky red suit of armor, Jiro was residing. In front of him was a screen monitor with Kaoru in the center. "So, the boy." Jiro starts off the conversation. "You fought him right?"

"Yeah." Kaoru answered bitterly.

"And did you succeed in unleashing his true powers?" Jiro asked intrigued.

Kaoru nods frowning, "Yes, sir. But I can't help but feel kind of bad about it, you know? I mean I had to torture a poor defenseless girl just to unleash the Darkness locked inside Sato. I feel kind of bad about it."

"She's not defenseless!" Jiro snaps. "She can use defensive and healing magic. Now there's no need to fill bad. She should've died before anyway."

"But…yes sir." Kaoru wanted to argue but he knew it would do no good.

"So." Jiro continues still curious. "How powerful was Sato when the Darkness was unleashed?"

"It wasn't all of it." Kaoru answers. "Although it was still pretty overwhelming. I'd say only ten percent leaked out tops."

Jiro grinned malevolently, "Very good…for now."