Four Seasons

Chapter: Four Season Style

Finn has gone up to the Academy Office to pay for the damage done to his clubhouse, by Tempest when he caused an outburst. Right now Hanako and I are wandering around the inner parts of the Academy forest, which is the least dangerous part of its forest, looking for the beasts that escaped from The Companions pocket dimension. Finn has given us a list of the three beasts that escaped, he also gave us a scroll that opens a portal to the pocket dimension.

"I feel really terrible...this is all my fault," Hanako said in a regretful tone

"Don't blame yourself. You did warn us, so Finn and I are also to blame" I said trying to make her feel better

"Oh, by the way, what did you mean by 'This Personality', earlier just before summoning Tempest?" I asked curiously

Hanako hesitated a little before taking a deep breath and answering "Well it's embarrassing to talk about, but...I trust you". Hearing Hanako say she trusts me, put a smile on my face.

"I...ummm...have split p-personalities, right now this is my...well kind s-side, but to Tempest, it's my crybaby personality, because as you can probably already tell I'm shy, nervous and not too confident in myself" Hanako explained

"That is all true, but I also think it's cute I'm sure, plus with the promise we made, you will most definitely overcome them and when that day comes, Tempest will obey you" I replied with a smile

"Th-thank you" Hanako replied with a light blush "My other personality is the complete opposite of this one, once I draw Odayakana-kazarashi my katana, my personality takes a complete 180 turn and I become….more violent and brave as well as more skilled in combat, and Tempest actually listens to my every command" Hanako continued to explain as she placed her hand on the hilt of her wooden katana

"Woh that sounds awesome, I'd love to see that side" I replied with an amazed expression

"Really?" Hanako asked in a surprised tone "most people think it's weird or they make fun of me" Hanako replied with a little smile, filled with sadness as she remembered the times she got bullied in the past

Before I could say anything, a giant green beastly feline with dark green spots splattered all over its light green skin came lurking out of the trees. It stood around 6 feet tall, with a muscular body type. Its long razor-sharp canine fangs protracted out of its mouth. The feline stood in front of us, growling, baring its fangs, with its claws protracted out of its strong paws. There was nothing but killing intent pouring out of it.

As I saw the beast, instead of being scared I was lost for words on how cool this beast looked, this is type of feline known as a Lucen, or more commonly known as 'Jungle Crawler' They are powerful predators, and as a kid, I've always wanted one as a pet, but right now wasn't the time.

"Looks like we have found our first beast, get ready Hanako" I turned to Hanako to see if she was ready, but she had vanished from plain sight.

I turned back to the Jungle Crawler, who was getting ready to jump at me, but before it could do anything, Hanako appeared a few feet in the air above the jungle crawler's head. Before it could realize her, she drew her wooden Katana and quickly did a single flip in the air, before slamming her katana on the cat's head.

"Autumn Style: Gentle Wind, Cleaving Leaf," Hanako said. A gust of wind erupted from underneath the cat, making the leaves on the ground dance around in the air, before falling back down, as the leaves fell to the ground the cat dropped to the ground, unconscious.

I was impressed! Until now I've never seen Hanako use her wooden katana, but now that she has, I can tell that she is incredibly skilled and not to say fast, I didn't even realize that she had disappeared, she must be extremely skilled when she switches to her other-self.

"That was awesome!!" I said with an amazed expression, as I walked up to her

"Th-thank you," Hanako said as her pink cheeks turned red

"Autumn Style? Never heard of that before, is it your family's sword style?" I asked with interest

"Yes it is, my clan's sword style is called Four Seasons and Autumn is just one of the styles, so is Summer, Winter and Spring. Each style triples in power during their respective seasons" Hanako explained

"Four Seasons!? That's such a unique swordsmanship technique" I replied impressed

I stood in front of the unconscious Jungle Crawler and opened the scroll, facing it towards the beast. The scroll lit up blue before a portal opened up, and sucked in the Jungle Crawler like a vacuum. Once the Jungle Crawler was within the scroll, the portal disappeared and the scroll stopped glowing.

"I want to see more of this sword style of yours," I said with a smile, looking at Hanako

Hanako and I spent the next two hours locating and putting the last two beasts into the scroll. The other two beasts were an 18-foot emerald serpent with two heads, which Hanako took down, she also took down the third beast, which was a red drake. The whole hunt was actually fun since I got to see more of Hanako's Four Season style, although she only used Autumn style, it was still amazing to watch. We made our way to the academy cafeteria, which is where Finn told us to meet him after we were done.

"Hey, Finn! We captured all three of your beasts!" I said as Hanako and I walked up to him

"it took long but we did it as promised" Hanako added on

"Well it's the least you guys can do since you did destroy my clubhouse" Finn replied

".....I am really sorry...F-Finn" Hanako nervously apologized looking down at the floor

"yes yes and we apologized already, now how long till your clubhouse is fixed?" I asked

"Well, it took me almost all of my points to pay for the damage caused by that wolf and to also rebuild the clubhouse, which I'll be taking out of your points after you get registered to the point system" Finn replied. "To answer your question, it

should be done within a few weeks, so until then you two are only half members of the Companions"

"I guess that's fair, here is the scroll," I said handing Finn the scroll with the three beasts kept inside it

"And Hanako, you probably shouldn't summon Tempest out in the open, not until you know how to control him properly" Finn suggested

"yeah...that would be b-best" Hanako replied twiddling her thumb as she looked at the ground

"Well, will be off now, take care Finn," I said before Hanako and I walked off

Hanako and I headed back towards the RisingSun, as it was starting to get dark

"Hey Ken, do you have a pack with any beast?...just curious," Hanako asked

"Yeah, I've got a pack with an Emperor Dragon named Volterra, who is also a close friend and a teacher of mine" I replied

"An Em..per..or Dragon?!!" Hanako stuttered

"Yeah, believe it or not, I saved him and he's been grateful ever since" I chuckled

"Well does he....listen to you?" Hanako asked

"Yes, he does," I answered, "if you don't mind me asking, what's the story between you and Tempest?"

"....Tempest is not as bad as he seems, he's actually really nice, the only reason he acts harshly to me, is his way of trying to toughen me up, since as a child I couldn't stand up for myself and this was before my personality split. He would never deliberately hurt me or any of my friends on purpose. When I feel lost or lonely he always keeps me company, that's why I'm never angry with him because I know he's only looking out for me" Hanako explained with a soft smile

"Hmmm I see, he sounds really cool, he's like...your guardian" I replied with a smile

With a smile Hanako nodded her head, agreeing with my view on Tempest

Hanako and I made our way back to the Rising Sun, just in time as Silva finished cooking and the others were working together on setting the table.

"We're back!" I called out as we walked into the dining room

"You two sure have been spending a lot of time together," Catherine said as she walked by us

"Yeah!" Mira agreed "what, are you two dating?" Mira asked before taking a seat at the dining table

"N-no it's not l-like that...we're j-just.." Before Hanako could finish what she was saying, Koko interrupted by saying "no way! Hanako is way out of Ken's reach". Man when she said that, it felt like Koko had just stabbed, myself confidence with a sharp arrow

"Hey, what do you mean 'out of my reach'!?" I complained

"She means Hanako is too pretty for you" Cathrine sighed, adding to the insult

"Too pretty? Jeez, love really is too complicated" I replied confused. I really wished someone could have told me more about love, before I left the island, now I know why Grandpa sucked at it

"No, I think they would be cute together" Louis chipped in with a smile

"Dear Louis, don't give Ken a false sense of hope," said Koko

"Krow, you think I have a chance right?" I asked, hoping Krow would agree with me

"I'm hungry, let's eat already," Ken said ignoring my question

"Wow, Krow has such low faith in me being with Hanako, that he thinks it's not worth thinking about!" I complained on the verge of giving up on all hope

"Now that I think about it, Ken and Hanako might actually make a cute couple, that's if Ken plays his cards right," Mira said as she looked at both me and Hanako standing next to each

"Now that I think about it, I want to barf" Said Cathrine, mimicking a barfing motion

"Geez, Catherine and Koko, you two are just stabbing me in the heart"

"Ken and I are just friends!" Hanako said out loud, catching everyone's attention, but with everyone focused on her, she quickly regretted it, and immediately looked down avoiding eye contact. Wow, hearing her say 'just friends' felt like another arrow was shot into me

"damnn, she really friend-zoned you" Drew said as he placed his hand on my right shoulder, while slowly shaking his head

"just know, I thought you had a chance" Leo added on as he put his hand on my other shoulder, while also slowly shaking his head

"I don't need you two to pity me," I said annoyed, before shrugging them off of my shoulder

"Alright shut up all of you, and listen!" Silva said out loud getting all of our attention. "Within two weeks, all the first years will be heading out to a Survival Exam, meaning everyone here but Louis. So prepare yourselves for that, cause if you fail in this exam, you will be expelled on the spot!" Silva announced as he put dinner on the table

"Survival Exam? That sounds interesting," I said before starting to eat with everyone else

"It does, but it'll be extremely hard" Louis added on

"Yes, and it'll be a 5-day camp, starting Monday, so you guys must stay strong throughout the whole thing," Silva said

"This will be a breeze for me, Leo you better not fail before I get a chance to beat you!" Drew smirked

"There is no way I'm going to fail before I beat you in a fight, you muscle head!" Leo replied

"A Survival Exam….very interesting" Krow mumbled to himself

"Five days of Survival Exam sounds like it's going to be exhausting" Catherine sighed

"Survival Exam sounds like a great way to test out how strong I have gotten," Mira said in a strong tone

"I hope there is booze there" Koko added on

"No matter what the challenge is, we will all make it back fine!" I said with confidence

"Yeah I hope so" Hanako added on, agreeing with me

"You're damn right! you brats better all make it back!" Silva let out.

Next Time: Survival Exams