Akemi was in a good mood heading back home. Not only she had a good time with Shouko, she finally met the person who saved her a month ago. She also befriended him, sort of. They pretty much on a level of school mates that know each other names only. But she was certain that things will definitely change in the future. She was back home when the sun was almost setting. And in front of her house, an old man was busy carrying wooden boxes from inside a car.

“Grandpa Shouji, I’m home.” His ears perked up and turned his gaze to Akemi. He gave her a small bow.

“Welcome back, milady. Are you just going back from school activity?” Shouji asked.

“I don’t have club duties today. I was ... helping my friend.” She was somehow unsure to speak about her going with Shouko. Shouji gave a small laugh, face filled with happiness.

“Is that so? I am very happy to hear that you finally make friends, milady. We should celebrate it, don’t you think?” Shouji teased her with a wink. Akemi chuckled, happy that she could still chat with him a lax. Her attention turned towards the wooden box Shouji was carrying.

“Grandpa Shouji, what is this?” she pointed at the box.

“A token of gratitude from our ‘employer’. She had received the news about Kotaro Miyamura. She wasn’t happy nor sad when I paid a visit. I assumed that she might regret about hiring us to ‘punish’ him, but that was just an assumption from me.” Evening breeze blew past them in the moment of silence. Shouji eventually went inside and Akemi followed suit.

After done changing, Akemi came to her brother’s room to tell him about why she was late. However, her brother wasn’t present. She found a note on his table that said that he was heading out for a stroll and told her to eat dinner first because he might be late.

Akemi sighed in disappointment. It wasn’t usual for her brother to go out since he got injured, and she was happy that he left the house to breath some outside air. But she wasn’t happy that he went out alone without letting someone to accompany him.

“Mr. Hayate and Miss Nitta haven’t come back since 2 weeks ago. I wished they were here.” She clutched the note with a look of loneliness. When her brother wasn’t around, Hayate and Nitta used to accompany Akemi since she was a child. They were hired to investigate a case, though no news had come to Marufuji household. Akemi silently prayed for her family to return safely, as what the always did everytime the other left the house.

Meanwhile, Akito was enjoying the transition of day to night. He mostly spent his time selling traditional medicine. After a certain incident which caused him to lose his left eye. Eventually he focused on his studying and learnt how to create medicine. His long coat sometimes got caught by the wind, flapping ever so slightly.

He went to Fuuka Park. There, he saw mothers picked up their children and each of them exchanging farewells. Full of smile, laugh, and joy. Akito smiled at the sight and lost himself in nostalgia, when he and Akemi used to come here to play until their mother scolded them because they were home late. His smile turned to frown of sadness. Asking where could his parents be at this moment. He ran his finger to his eyepatch, heaving a sigh.

“Oh? Young master Akito? What a surprise!” A man came over towards Akito. He wore a black suit which matched his gloves. A sunglasses over his eyes and a black stetson made him deserved a true man in black attire. Akito was tensed for a moment before relaxing himself.

“Fancy meeting you here, Taro Inui. Good evening.” He gave a small bow which was responded by Taro in the same manner. His cheshire grin stayed on, as he clasped his hands together.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Good evening to you as well. Say, what a nice view we have here right?”

“If you’re talking about those little children, I will call the cops.” Akito said with a straight expression. Taro gasped exaggerately.

“Young Master! I can assure you this Taro Inui is not a lolicon nor a shotacon! I prefer much elder women, especially the ones tha-”

“Okay okay, enough of that. I apologize for accusing you.”

“I am insulted! How could you young master? You owe me a drink for that.”

“That isn’t a bad punishment. Sure, shall we?”

“Eh? Eh? Really?”

Akito surprisingly went along with Taro’s joke as the well-dressed man followed Akito in confusion. They arrived a small sake stall and ordered some sake with snacks. After enjoying their treat, Taro and Akito had a chat.

“How was your business young master?”

“Pretty good. My studying certainly paid off. With this, Akemi can focus on her education without worrying about funds.” Taro was impressed by Akito’s achievement as he whistled and shook his head in disbelief.

“I must say young master, you do plan ahead for young miss future. What a good brother you are.”

“Haha, flattery won’t work on me. You have to do better, Inui.” Sounds of grilling meat accompanied their constant chatting about random things. As they ask for another serving of sake, Taro decided to ask again.

“How was ‘work’?” Akito noticed his tone turned much serious.

“It went well as expected. Your information certainly helped us in much more ways than I could think off. I thank you for your hard work.”

“Please, I simply do what I was paid too. When you need jobs, informations, money, and stuffs, Taro Inui is your man.” Taro puffed his chest in pride.

“Also for the ‘thing’ you gave, it couldn’t have come at a better time. But...”

“But?”

“It did something to my sister.”

Akito gulped his sake. His face turned red, starting to feel the alcohol.

“The last mission had unnecessary casualties which makes me afraid that I’m putting her in much more dangerous situation. What is this ‘relic’, Inui? What exactly it’s purpose?”

Akemi’s hairpin was named ‘relic’ by Taro Inui. He came some time after the incident. Akito was enraged and afraid if something were to happen to Akemi. Like an answer of a distress call, Taro Inui came to their life. He gained the clan’s trust by finding them high-profile clients who can pay them enough to last for a year or more. His mysterious ways of getting his wish granted raised some questions from Akito, but he’d rather not think abou that.

Taro Inui learnt about the situation since he found out that the incident wasn’t the first time happened in the city. He believed there are higher-ups or the researchers got involved in a project of making a certain bioweapon. He wasn’t sure, until he got his hands into the ‘relic’.

Found it from collection old archives from fallen clans, in the past, there were times when evil reigned over the land. The clans felt that the evil was more bigger threat than fighting among themselves. Eventually, they joined forces to battle the evil. Unfortunately, they were powerless against them. Several youths of the allied clans embarked on a journey to search for power. On their journey, they encountered mysterious forms of animals which bore sacred items hidden inside.

These items were given the name: ‘relics’.

‘Relics’ infused the youths with the ability to merge with spirits animals and gave them power that match each of the ‘relics’ animal motifs. With this, the evil was slain and peace returned. However, the land was plunged into chaos once again as the tragedy rained on the ‘relics’ users.

After that, nothing was mentioned again about the ‘relics’ other than the owners and the images. He found the butterfly hairpin inside one of the box containing the archives. And found out that it belonged to the Marufuji clan.

Taro explained from what he found in the archives, but it left more questions rather than answers.

“Are you going to keep her using that power?” Taro asked. Akito nodded.

“Akemi asked me to trust her, so I will trust her. But Inui, if possible I want you to find out more about this. If I can do anything to lessen my sister burden, I’m forever indebted to you.”

“Young master, please! You’re going to make me embarassed by your high expectation. But rest assured, I will find out more about it. I also wish for you clan to rise again, that is why I am on your side now.”

“Thank you. Cheers?” Akito raised his cup while Taro raised his glass.

“Cheers!” The two had toast and drank more into the night.

Inside a dark alley, a figure lifted his left hand, dripping with purple liquids all over. He poured it into the bodies of unconscious people around him. In seconds, they woke up but something wasn’t right. The figure left the alley and stared into the moon.

“I’m coming for you, Aka.”