Chapter 12: Familial Ties

The group ran through the ornate halls of the mansion. Like a mad dash to the finish they were looking forward to putting an end to their time In the house of a thousand hearts’ distorted shadow. This “fun” house had overstayed its welcome and you could feel it in the air. The once sweet aroma had rotted and soured, maybe it’s because they knew more that they saw the house under a different light, or maybe the rot was always there and they simply didn't notice. They cleared hordes of monsters that stood in their way as they rushed to the courtyard where their only important obstacle lay in wait. Waiting for the raiders to tear down his door. Desperate to end his reign yet again. But this time he would not go down without a fight.

As Kaiji and his friends rushed in and saw as the pale moonlight light the stage of battle like a spotlight. Illuminating everything so there was nowhere to hide.

“They took everything from me…” said Jonathan. “All I wanted was to help those in need, and they took it away from me. But I was given a second chance, to finish what I started, and now you’ve come to stop me once again.*Tisk* What a sick joke. You come into my home and kill my loved ones indiscriminately, Cerberus, Igor, even my love veronica, cut down like a regular household pest. Well, the death ends here. You want me? Come and get me!”

As the words left his mouth the dead rose from the ground, a small army with all kinds of weapons stood in the way between him, and our heroes.

Kaiji charged ahead with no hesitation, the time to fight was nigh. Followed closely by his teammates, they ran through the hordes of enemies clearing a way. Dodging sword strikes and countering when necessary. None of the cannon fodder mattered, what truly mattered was the mastermind behind it.

“Kaiji” Alice shouted

Kaiji looked and he was about to get sliced by a stray sword swipe he didn't see coming. He snaked his body around it, the blade just barely grazing his cheek as he moved in and struck the foe in the chest sending it flying through the crowd.

“Hmmm, looks like the boy finally let the beast have its day in the sun. I only wish it was under different circumstances.” Said Jonathan then hydra tentacles swarmed the battlefield tearing apart the ground and making the floor unstable. Alice was grabbed by one of its tendrils but not long before Kairi sliced it up with her scythe.

“thanks, you're really good with that” said Alice

“thanks, I just started today” replied Kairi

but this was no time for chit-chat as the phantom reared its ugly head to devour them both. But luckily Aki dashed through and cut the hydra's head clean off with his phantom blade.

“Focus dammit! It’s do or die!”

“right!” they both said in unison.

As they moved closer and closer the tension rose higher and higher as the monsters grew in numbers to put as much distance between him and them. but it was a futile attempt because Kaiji wasn't concerned with fighting the grunts, he was heading for the king. He ran through the crowd, and when It became too dense to squeeze through, he took to the skies, using their heads as stepping stones in his path to the final boss fight. “Brando!” he shouted

Jonathan gave a smirk “Brando was my father, call me JOHNNY!” he said as he threw an assortment of daggers Kaiji's way. But Kaiji whipped out a shield from one of the soldiers and deflected them. “Clever boy” said Jonathan, the space between them now being a mere six feet, he took out his sword to cut the boy down, but Kaiji then whipped out the sword he also took from one of the soldiers and stopped his strike dead in its tracks. The sparks flying from the metal grinding on metal as they struggled to overpower the other. Then Kaiji swiped away and went in for an attack. Only for Jonathan to jump and stand on his blade. He then swiped at Kaiji. it was too close, he backed away as far as he could but he still managed to slice up his cheek.

He put his hand to his face and saw the blood staining his palm. He grit his teeth and clenched his fist, frustrated he let himself get cut. They kept trading blows back and forth deflecting every single one of them, from the outside looking in, you’d think they were evenly matched, but Jonathan was seeing just how far he could push the boy now that he was serious. At that moment, he got careless. He lunged his sword forward to try and stab Kaiji, but Kaiji rolled his torso out of the way, closing the gap. He then slammed his elbow into Jonathan's extended sword arm making him drop his sword. Then with his other arm he swung at him with an upward motion catching Jonathan's shoulder.

Jonathan backed away to try and gain some distance but Kaiji wasn't done, he lunged his sword forward stabbing Jonathan in the stomach. Jonathan grew indignant “you stupid kid, DON'T THINK YOU'VE WON!” he then shoved him away with the force to send him careening off to the other side of the battlefield. With The sword still impaled in Jonathan's chest, he called forward his champion “come forth, MINOTAUROS!!” and the shadow of the beast covered the moonlight, temporarily shrouding the battlefield in darkness. When Kaiji finally came to a stop he was lying next to Aki as he fought off more disheveled undead. “did you ask him yet?” he shouted over the loud ruckus of the fight

“No, Aki, I haven’t really gotten around to it on account of it's a bloody fight!”

“Well, quit wasting time and ask him already! We don't have all night! If the sun rises, we’ll be stuck here forever and then we’ll have to play nice!”

“I know!!! *Grrr*” he grit his teeth and dashed forward again

Aki ran alongside him as they took on the minotaur together. The half human half bull swung its massive ax taking out countless disheveled undead in an attempt to slice through the enemy. But Kaiji and Aki both dodged between either side of the hulking piece of iron. Aki ran along the side of the ax handle and sliced off one of its horns as Kaiji attacked the monster's stomach with a power spirit burst punch like the one he gave Cerberus. But the monster didn't seem to flinch. As it raised its fist and swung down to squash the little bug who dared strike him with his bare hands. Aki dove and pushed Kaiji out of the way as he held back the monster's fist with his sword “GO! I'LL HOLD HIM BACK, STOP WASTING TIME!”

Kaiji nodded his head and ran to face Jonathan once again.

“hey Kaiji~ long time no see~”

“Enough games john. Why are you doing this” he stood unarmed before him.

“why? Why does a tiger eat gazelle? Because it’s in his nature.”

“No! That's not true! You weren’t like this! This isn’t you!”

“and how would you know? You don't know anything about me!”

“we went through your study, we read everything. We… we know what happened”

Jonathan's face ran white with shock. He hung his head forward and let the hair cover his face. Then he laughed.

“then you must understand why I have done what I must to protect this place. Times change, Kaiji, people change, and that was a long time ago.”

“I don't believe it’s that simple. Igor said this was torture! What was he talking about?!”

“Igor said? When did you speak to Igor?”

Kaiji froze as he did not what to answer that question

“oh that's right, right before you killed him like a dog! Don't speak as if you care for us, you humans are all the same, focused on your own goals and ambitions over the lives of anyone who stands in your way!”

“that's not true! I-”

“Enough talk Kaiji, let's end this” he pulled out the blade Kaiji had stabbed into him and lunged forward going for the kill. But then a silhouette with glowing red eyes appeared between them and sliced at the master's hand. It was Kairi! As she went for a full frontal assault on the master her scythe swinging all around as she summer salted, kicked, smacked and cut the master to ribbons. Then Alice joined the fray as she let out her fury in a flurry of punches and kicks displaying all the years of martial art training she had at the hands of her brother and his friends. The master could do little more than watch as these girls pummeled him into a corner. Only for Kaiji to catch an opening and give him a taste of his spirit burst punch. The master got the wind knocked out of him as his saliva flew into the air. The irritation levels were surpassing his threshold. He screamed “ENOOOOOOOOOUGH!” and let out a burst of energy that threw everyone back. Using this opportunity, he brought back even more disheveled undead between them.

“How can he still be using magic? Is there no end to his reserves” said Alice

“no, he’s running out of steam, it’s now or never! It’s do or die! Let’s do this!” said Kaiji

“right” Alice and Kairi both said in unison

Kaiji gave his all to clearing as many enemies as he could. They piled on top of him pushing him back like a giant sumo wrestler. But Alice tagged in and helped push them back while he went on ahead forcing his way through “go get ‘em tiger”

Then he saw Kairi in the air with the moon on her back and scythe in her hand

“grab on!” she said extending her hand

Kaiji jumped and grabbed it as she used her momentum to sling him over the army and closer to Jonathan, Kaiji could see him now, he was panting, covered in blood and at his limit. But before he could get close, Jonathan saw the boy. A rage in his eyes shined red as he used the last of his strength to fend off the warning invaders “Release… the KRAKEN!” As a giant tentacle branched from behind him it whipped around and was heading straight for Kaiji. “Damn, not here, not now, we were so close” Kaiji thought to himself. But just before the giant tentacle could touch him, Aki appeared in front of him, taking the impact and giving Kaiji a window to victory. “get on with it!”

Kaiji smiled as he jumped up over the kraken and finally came face to face with Jonathan.

He saw the boy reading his punch, he saw the look on his face, he saw… his smile… my god it had been decades since he had smiled like that Jonathan thought to himself. Why did he stop? it must have been around the time he started taking souls. Why did he ever start doing that he thought… he couldn't remember.

His thoughts lingered on the question as Kaiji's fist made contact with his body. It was over. Kaiji had won.

And as the sun finally rose, putting an end to this nightmarish night, Kaiji looked up at John only to see tears flowing down his face.

“you know… I don't actually remember a time or place where I decided I would take the souls of my guests. It feels like it was never my decision to begin with. One day, the souls of my guests were left behind. But when it happened, it felt like I had always been taking them. like the memories I had belonged to a version of me that never existed. I had not the will nor power to stop it… thank you Kaiji… for setting me free”

Kaiji looked in awe as the master smiled at him. A look of peace he had been waiting for, for a long time. And then, his body took on a bluish Hue as he vanished into the wind. The sunlight shining away all the darkness that had tormented countless souls. The master was finally dead. The house began to disappear around them, the cobblestone panels underneath turned to grass as they came back to the real world. When it all vanished, Kaiji couldn't help but start crying.

“Kaiji, what’s wrong? We did it! we beat the master!” said Kairi

“he… he thanked me… when It was done… he was smiling- no, he was… happy… that all of this had finally been over.” he said

“maybe all of this was just as much a torture to him as it was to us” said Aki

“made even worse by the fact he couldn't do anything about it. Forced endure it for centuries” said Alice

Aki walked over and put his hand on Kaiji's shoulder

“cheer up champ, you did the right thing. Now let’s go home and treat those wounds of yours.” He said

“wounds? What wounds?” He looked down and saw all the cuts and bruises he had sustained at the hands of the disheveled undead. “oh, ha ha, I hardly noticed” and then he fell over, losing consciousness. Aurora then went to the flowing river of spirit world prepared to fish out Kaiji's soul a second time. But luckily that wouldn't be necessary today.

Chapter 12: Familial Ties

The next thing Kaiji knows he's waking up in a hospital bed. But he's not at the hospital

“unfamiliar ceiling… where am I?”

“It's about time you woke up! You scared me half to death!” shouted Kairi. She was sitting next to the bed the whole time.

“As bad as they looked, they were all nothing but flesh wounds. The collapse was mostly due to the fact that none of you got a wink if sleep last night” a girl in a lab coat and messy hair said as she waved a pen around

“wait you mean…” Kaiji looked around and saw Aki and Alice in hospital beds too.

“what’s going on here!?” he said

“relaaaax” said the girl “I’m Haru, I’m the one in charge of patching everyone up after a job, you’re all going to be fine”

“ah well nice to meet you… uh wait but that doesn't really answer my question.” He said

“You’re in the facility” Aki said getting out of bed “it’s our headquarters. By the way, have fuyu and Natsu come back yet?”

“they’ve been in the rec room for over an hour”

“*tisk* typical” Aki said “c’mon Kaiji I want to introduce you to the rest of the team, you too Kairi”

“what about Alice?” asked Kaiji

“Let her sleep. She’s not used to this sort of work, she deserves her rest.” Aki said and they all left the room.

“look all I’m saying is that if we ever got serious, I’m coming out on top not question about it” Natsu said with a cocky smirk

“in your dreams! you are too direct and predictable! I’d see you coming from a mile away! There’s no way your beating me” Fuyu responded giving back as much energy as he was putting out

“oh, do I smell a challenge?”

“yeah, I bet you do” and then she swiped at the hockey puck sending it flying across the table, but before it could reach the goal Natsu deflected it sending it ricocheting between the walls. He used this opportunity to carefully line up his shot. When he finally struck it banked off the edge of the rink and was about to reach Fuyu’s goal when she intercepted it.

“I told you I’d see you coming from a mile away!”

the game kept going on like that back and forth until Aki arrived

“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” he yelled out into the rec room catching Natsu's eye.

“ah you’re ba-”

“MATCH POINT! THE WINNER IS… FUYU!” the machine blared out of its speakers. The moment he took his eyes off the table Fuyu sent it flying into his goal zone winning the match.

“AH! NO FAIR! I GOT DISTRACTED!” he said

“I’ll need to add “easily distracted’ to your list of weaknesses’”

“anyway” Aki said “Kaiji, this loud mouthed cocky hot head is Natsu, he’s the martial arts expert; and the equally loud mouthed but slightly more reserved one over there is Fuyu, she’s an expert at tactics and espionage, sneaking into places and not making a sound is her M.O. They might act like clowns now but when things get serious, they’re brilliant on the field.”

“Kaiji?” Natsu said “wait… is that the kid you've been talking about all month?”

Aki flinched, his eyes widened as he realized these idiots were about to blab about a private conversation

“ohhhh, THAT Kaiji” fuyu said “in that case let me get a good look at him” she said as she rushed over to stare at him mere inches from his face. “you wouldn't know it by looking at him, but that's always the case I suppose” she said

“I mean if he’s got Aki’s recommendation, there’s definitely something to him” said Natsu

“what are they talking about?” Kairi asked Kaiji

“I’m not sure… I think they've talked about me before”

“oh my gosh he’s got a twin! What’s your name?” Fuyu asked 

“her names Kairi, turns out she’s pretty good with a scythe” said Aki

“wow, too recommendations in one day, either you too are hot shit, or Aki’s standards have fallen from grace.” said Natsu

“you should talk, you've never met my standards” replied Aki

“aw c’mon man! not in front of the new recruits!” said Natsu

“c’mon let's go, it’s almost time for the meeting” said Aki

“8 o’clock already?! We just got here!” said Natsu

“right on time if you ask me” said Aki

They all walked together to the grand hall for their de-briefing. Artifacts decorated the walls and pillars surrounding them. It looked like a big empty training room repurposed into a hall.

“whoa, what is this place? How is it so big? Where are we?” Kaiji asked

“The facility was built into the side of a mountain over a hundred years ago.” Aki explained “we could no longer risk getting ambushed in the middle of the night by vengeful spirits, so our predecessors built a fortress; sanctified and blessed, not even the worst demon could get in here.”

“we come from a long line of demon hunters charged with protecting Kyokai from hostile spirit takeover” said fuyu

“But no matter how many we beat, they just keep coming back for more. So we have to always be preparing the next generation” said Natsu

“do you mean us?” asked Kairi

Natsu looked back not expecting the question. He smiled “yeah maybe, it’s all voluntary, it's a dangerous job so there’s never that many of us. People would rather sit back and let other people do the work for them if they can get away with it.” said Natsu

“but that only means the ones that do are many more times as likely to die in the process” fuyu interjected “but of you survive, with so much work to go around, you become stronger beyond your wildest dreams”

“a trial by fire then?” asked kaiji

“precisely” said Aki “but once you know, you’ll always be in constant danger. As simply knowing puts you on the phantom radar. So you might as well give yourself a fighting chance.”

“Wait, just knowing puts you in danger?” asked Kaiji

“Of course! Knowledge is power, and phantoms want all the power they can get. Once your awake, you might as well wear a neon sign that says “eat me I’m tasty” Aki said

“oh man, I need to talk to Ben about this…” Kaiji said

“what? But Kaiji he just said telling him is what puts him in danger”

“He's already in danger because he already knows.”

“what? You told him and not me? Way to keep the odd one out!”

“no! I didn't tell him! he just came to me panicked about a giant lizard that had just wrecked the city”

“Godzilla?”

“no! a real lizard! I mean, a real phantom lizard… you know what? Never mind!”

Aki shushed them both as the boss was about to make his entrance. The sliding door screeched open as a white bearded man walked into the room. He looked at the door and walked back out for a moment before walking back in with a small metal oil dripper “if I don't do it now I’m just going to forget to do it later” he mumbled to himself. He slid the door back and forth to make sure the oil was evenly distributed and the screeching was gone. Then he walked to the center of the room. Now… which one of you is Kaiji he looked at the only two faces he didn't recognize

Kaiji was shocked to find out he already knew about him. He raised a finger and pointed to himself out “uh... me?”

The old man rushed to him and grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously “ah Kaiji my boy it’s so nice to finally meet you! Aki has simply not stopped talking about you since you met, it’s so nice to finally put a face to the tales”

“boundaries old man!” Aki shouted his teeth grinding at everyone’s lack of tack. He had a reputation to uphold! you know?

“oh but where are my manners? Who might you be lass” he said as he rushed over and shook Kairi’s hand vigorously “WAIT!” he rushed over to pull Kaiji aside to ask him in private “don't tell me you brought your girlfriend into this, love and work don't usually go together, sure it's brilliant at first, but when you break up, awkward tension and conversations become part of your daily life, try to avoid that son.”

“oh, uh no sir, she’s not my girlfriend” said Kaiji

“wonderful!!” he rushed back and continued to shake Kairi’s hand vigorously “hello again! you never answered my question, who might you be lass?”

“I’m Kairi.”

“Kairi! What a beautiful name! It reminds me of a woman I once met back in my early years. it was the summer of 69 when I first met-”

“that's enough old man! get on with it!” Aki screamed at him as he snaked his arm around the old man’s neck putting him in a headlock. The old man bashed Aki in the head with his cane, not letting the youth take him out without a fight.

“yes, well anyway, now that we’re done with introductions let’s get down to business.” Aki said from the ground

He picked himself off the ground after receiving one too many blows to the head “last night I received a distress call form Haru saying activity in the house had spiked, turns out, these too walked in there like it was some afterschool test of courage.”

“that's not… entirely true” said Kaiji

“After that, since Natsu and Fuyu were in Estria taking care of a case, I had to resort to asking Alice for help. Once inside, we found them both and met up to try and defeat the master. We found out a lot of the house's history in the master's private study that enabled us to find him. Once we did, it was a matter of getting there and neutralizing the target, eliminating the house and walking away with our lives. During the fight Kaiji showed great skill and strength despite the fact that up until this point he had only ever fought using a sword. He was quick on his feet, adaptable, and tenacious, it’s because of these qualities that I believe he would make a great addition to our team.” Said Aki

Kaiji felt his chest swell, as he heard what Aki thought about him his eyes started tearing up.

The old man listened intently. “and what about the girl, Kairi.”

“She was a surprise to me, when I found her she was surrounded by bodies and shrouded in a violent aura. At first I thought it was just another demon, but It seems she had just awakened to her hidden potential. She’s a natural, I don't think we would have been able to pull it off without her.”

Kairi couldn’t stop herself from saying “aw” in response

The old man contemplated for a minute. “very well, it is up to them if they want to join the battle or not”

Natsu walked over and put an arm on each of them “well? What do you say? You in?”

“I don't know what to say” said Kairi

“yeah, me neither…” he couldn't help but think about what his grandparents told him. They didn't want him getting involved, and when they tried taking a back seat, he ended up getting in deeper than he was before. Like it was a sandpit he couldn't swim out of fast enough.

“I… I can’t … not right now.”

“what?!” said Aki

“Kaiji what’s wrong?” asked Kairi

“I know it’s for the greater good, and I want to be a part of your team, but there’s something I need to do first.”

The aura of disappointment emanated from everyone in the room.

The old man let out a big sigh “well, we’ll be waiting for you when you’re ready”

“thank you guys, for being so understanding” Kaiji said

“C’mon kid, let’s get you home” said Aki as he led him out of their HQ

“Well Kaiji said he can’t, so that just leaves you, what will you do? it’s your choice.” said the old man

Kairi took a moment to think about it.

“well…”

Aki took Kaiji to the front door of the head-quarters. As He opened the door, the sunlight came pouring through revealing how dark the headquarters actually were

“You know, I’m a bit shocked, I thought you wanted this.”

“I do, I just can’t get more involved without telling them.”

“your grandparents”

Kaiji didn't say anything

“Well don't worry about it, we're not going anywhere, I said it once and I’ll say it again, if he’s going to be a part of this, it’ll be on his own terms not ours. No one should be a part of a fight they didn't sign up for.”

Kaiji looked at Aki, surprised that he was so understanding. It’s because he didn't have a say when he joined the fight way back when. When his friends started disappearing around him found himself more isolated than ever. In that isolation, he became lonely, weak, a prime target for phantoms looking for a quick meal. On his way home from school, a demon grabbed him and lifted him up into the air, at first he didn't know what was going on, but as he felt the warm mist of its open mouth and the arms that wrapped around his face he saw the thing and started thrashing about. Fighting back as hard as he could he bit down on the monster's hand forcing it to drop him. And that's when he showed up to save him. He sliced down the creature with a single sword strike. Since then, Aki has tried to emulate the coolness of that samurai by joining the corps and training under him as hard as he could. He was part of what was known as the big three. But that's a story for another time.

“what? Are you gonna leave without saying goodbye?”

Kaiji recognized the sassy voice and turned to confirm it was Alice

“I’ll leave you to it” said Aki as he walked back to the grand hall

“I heard what happened, you rejected the team. Got better things in mind?” she said, almost pissed. She had been wanting that offer for years.

“It's my grandparents, I don't want to worry them anymore than I have too. I can’t join you guys without talking to them.”

“them.”

“what?”

“You can’t join them. I’m not part of the team”

“but I thought you said-”

“I said, “something like that.” In spite of getting trained for years, they still haven’t let me in.”

Kaiji didn't know what to say to that

“But whatever, that’s not your fault. So don't sweat it. Go talk to your parents, we’ll be here”

“Grandparents. They’re my grandparents. My parents died when I was young”

“oh… right” said Alice

They said their goodbyes and Kaiji walked out the front door. It led to a balcony that oversaw the whole city of Kyokai from the top of the mountain range. He had never seen a more beautiful view of the city within the ruins.

Aki approached the old man in private later that day.

“we need to talk, we have to tell him.” said Aki

“We are not having this conversation.” said the old man

“Father, he needs to know, not telling him about his powers, about his parents, it's a liability, he’s a walking magnet for trouble and he doesn't even know why. It was fine when he was asleep, but now that he’s awakened he’s in constant danger. He has no idea the gravity of his situation. Alice is safe here, but every step he takes out there is a perilous one. He needs to know”

“It is not our place, boy!” the old man shouted. A silence filled the room as the tension rose due to the opposing ideologies of father and son. “I’ll talk to them and inform them of the situation. If Kaiji is going to know, it should be at their hands”

Ryohei, Kaiji's grandfather, was standing in the kitchen with a phone in his hand

“Yes I see, well I guess there’s no use in resisting it now. Thank you for telling me master”

He hung up the phone. Took a deep breath, and let out a big sigh. “Yes, there really is no helping it now.”