I did tell you my life was a shonen right?

That morning in the middle of the marketplace, there was going to be a fight. A dog fight. Literally.

Despite Sakuya initially appeasing the group of hostile spirits to turn back, they did not listen. Technically, her words were more of a warning and a threat, but she didn't care. After what they almost did to the little girl—tried to bite her head off—she wanted to make them suffer. And if she accidentally killed them in the process, then so be it. There were rules to living alongside humans, and they might have well just broken every single one. Never attack innocent people.

The massive hellhounds were flanking and surrounding her, keeping her in a closed circle. The market was deserted, and it was just her versus the five inugami. Aunt Kanna and Ash had yet to arrive, so she was going to do this alone. With a twisted ankle and a limp in her step, she knew she was at a disadvantage. She was simply going to have to be careful.

The five massive beasts continued to surround her, and she made sure to alternate her gaze between each and every one of them. They were growling at her. Barking. Snapping their teeth. They were trying to intimidate her, throw her off focus, find an opening so they could attack. And although Sakuya was a little uneasy by their sheer size and proximity—as each one was almost as tall as she was, and close enough that she could easily be blindsided—she needed to get some space.

Sakuya took in a deep breath and gripped her staff tighter. Then she planted her foot firmly to the ground and made the first move.

"Watashi wa Sakuya Aruba! Omae-tachi wa koko de owaru!"

Sakuya immediately began spinning her staff rapidly, following her intimidating declaration. Translation: "I am Sakuya Alba! This is where you end!" She swept the spinning staff from her left side to her right, displaying a dazzling control of speed and precision, challenging any of the inugami to dare step forward.

They hesitated.

Big mistake.

Seizing her opportunity, Sakuya launched forward like a torpedo, swinging her staff and catching one of the dogs with a blow to the jaw.

There was a sickening crunch.

Blood.

And one was down.

She continued spinning her staff as she turned to face the remaining four, but the sudden burst of speed had exacerbated the pain in her ankle. If she risked a move like that again, she might not be able to stand for the rest of the fight.

Taking out one of the vile of salts from the belt on her waist, she gradually limped back towards the fallen inugami, then poured the contents of the container onto the body of the creature. She had stopped spinning her staff in order to do that, but she still kept her eyes trained on the monsters drawing toward her. The body on the ground slowly dissolved into a puddle of melted flesh, steam, and bones. The salt was a mixture of other minerals that served as an acidic agent to spirits like the inugami. She was sure her attack had only knocked the creature out, so she needed to ensure...

The remaining inugami suddenly went berserk at what she was doing, and they all rushed her at once.

***

The elderly woman in a pale blue kimono was sitting cross-legged on a mat. They were in the forest, surrounded by trees, rocks, and sand. They were in the middle of a clearing. The sound of flowing water from the nearby river was calming. The wind brushing against her face was peaceful, and she took in a deep breath before opening her eyes. Her daughter, sitting across from her on the mat, was playing with a caterpillar she had picked up. Not meditating.

Kanna sighed.

Seeing this, Ash quickly, but gently, set the caterpillar down on the ground before returning to meditating. The girl had short white hair and striking blue eyes. Kanna saw the girl still wore her weapons resting on her back, from when they went on patrol that morning. Two katana that were most likely taller than the 14-year-old carrying them.

Kanna shifted her gaze to the caterpillar. It was safe and crawling away. She focused her attention back on her daughter. The girl had her eyes closed and her hands clasped out in front of her. She could see the girl was not relaxed. Maybe before, when she was busy playing with the insect, but not now. She kept trying to sneak a peek with one eye open, to see if her mother was watching. Kanna wasn't disappointed, however. It was normal. But it was something her daughter would need to grow out of, and soon.

Kanna was about to join her daughter in meditating when something began vibrating in her dress pocket. She was startled at first, but soon realized it was just her phone. Sakuya and the girls had gotten it for her, with Sakuya claiming it was going to help them communicate much better, Ayane commenting it was about time because her last one was old and gross anyway, and little Shuin shouting that Kanna still got the goods and needed to get back out there. The latter Alba sibling was terrifying with the kinds of things that sometimes came out of her mouth, but Kanna knew she was ultimately a good kid.

Kanna reached into the dress pocket of her kimono and pulled out the device. It was an incoming call from Ayane. Strange, she thought. Shouldn't the girl be at school by now?

She clicked on the accept call button and lifted the phone to her ear. A sudden sense of dread gripped her chest at the news she was hearing. She couldn't believe it.

As soon as she ended the call, she looked up at her daughter in front of her. Ash was already at the ready, one hand grabbing on the hilt of one of her swords resting on her back. All the girl needed now was a location and her mother's permission. She must have read the look on Kanna's face and concluded there was trouble.

"Marketplace," Kanna said. "Go."

Ash nodded.

A second later, the white haired girl simply blinked out of existence.

***

Sakuya was in trouble, and she knew it.

After the four inugami lunged toward her simultaneously, teeth bared, claws outstretched, she had, in a desperate attempt to save her life, accidentally tapped into her guardian powers and defended herself. Her eyes glowed, and she unleashed a blast of spirit energy, arching it with her staff and sweeping it in the direction of the hellhounds.

The force of the blast sent all four dogs flying back and crashing into stalls. They weren't dead, but the move bought her a brief moment to escape.

Egregiously limping on one leg, Sakuya slowly made her way to find cover. Activating her powers was something she had yet to master, to control. She knew she was lucky, extremely so. It was time to bunker down until someone arrived.

She found a spot inside a shop, then sat down behind a table and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She tried moving her outstretched foot around, but the pain was unbearable. She could hear the inugami outside looking for her. She waited some more, and just when it felt like they were drawing closer to her location...

There was a slash.

A stab.

Followed by a slice.

Another slash.

Two more stabs in rapid succession.

Then, finally, the sound of bodies dropping to the ground.

Silence.

Sakuya slowly poked her head out from behind the table, and although she was instantly relieved, she was also a little worried by what she found.

Ash was standing in the middle of the marketplace, with the dead bodies of the remaining four inugami spirits littering the ground by her feet. The girl's blades were dripping blood, and some of it had even gotten on her face and hair.

The girl was a scary good killer. Something that Sakuya herself was disturbed about. And with the added ability of her teleportation magic, she really was proving to be the perfect little spirit-murdering machine her mother was training her to become.

***

The flight to Japan took us almost the entire day. When we finally arrived, it was nighttime.

Using my simple conversational Japanese, I booked a cab that took me to the hotel I was going to stay in for the night. The house I rented was much closer to Sakuya's place, but I was not going to go there until the morning.

I took a shower, ordered some food, then updated my mother on my arrival. Like me, she was particularly excited, praying for me while also reminding me to take lots of pictures.

When it was time for bed, I logged onto Discord and found messages from Sakuya already waiting for me.

The first message:

"This flight is taking too long. Crying emoji. When are you going to get here?"

I smiled when I read that one.

The second message:

"Guess who has two legs and just broke one of them. Meeeeeeee."

I quickly responded to this one:

"Why? What happened? Are you okay?"

Her third message:

"I know you will be worried about my leg after reading, so when you get to the hotel call me. Long story short, I fell, but I am okay. And in case I accidentally sleep off before you come online, welcome to Japan Jumo. Red heart emoji. I can't wait to see you tomorrow."