A flash against the dark background signalled the beginning of the downpour. People continued about their day under the protection of umbrellas. A silhouette dashed through the street. The umbrellas flew in its wake. It leaped on to a roof continuing it's straight path, it leaped four buildings at a time.
In the near horizon was a small slope. On its plateau was a tall wall circling a Japanese style mansion behind a large double door gate. A wide courtyard in front of the mansion and other sub buildings to the sides and back. It leaped over and landed in the courtyard. It was revealed to be a girl with black hair going crimson at the end and dark eyes. She wore a school uniform. The back of her blouse was torn. The women in the courtyard bowed. "Future Lieutenant Nagisa." They said.
"Has he been found yet?" She said. The women looked away and shook their heads. "Mother!"
"Over here Nagisa." Said Sayuri standing beside her grandmother and mother who were sitting on the porch. A woman was also tied up.
"Why have you called off the search when he hasn't been found yet?"
"That's what we've been trying to figure out from your mother."
"Since she read that letter that's supposedly from Kai, she called off the search and won't let us see the letter....and...she's even been crying." Said her grandmother seemingly in a state of disbelief.
Droplets fell from Ren's low hung red head. Nagisa froze. "Could someone just tell me what's going on. I went back to school after waking up almost an hour ago. I saw were it happened. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was one of us who tore up that class room. Whoever took my brother is no joke."
"No one took Future Clan Leader, Nagisa. According to this woman who met Kai an hour ago, he confessed that he was the one who decimated that classroom."
"She's lying. No Yamaguchi men are capable of anger, much less something like that."
"The letter confirms it." Said Ren. "Your brother is the first Yamaguchi male in history to break free from the curse's restrictions on males and use the abilities of our bloodline."
Nagisa fell to her knees. Ren walked past her only to stop a few steps. "My brother...is just like us now...he can finally fight...he can finally fight!" She grinned and ran to her mother's side. "Isn't this more reason to search for him?! He can finally start really being the Future Clan Leader he was meant to be! That we've always envisioned him to be! Even if he's not as strong as the rest of us, he can take a beating like none of us can! We can spar with each other, practice aura control, spar with eachother, help him pick his weapon, spar, and spar until we pass out." She rambled on, thrilled. Everyone stared at her in astonishment.
"Wow. First time I've ever heard her talk this much." Mumbled the Women watching from the sidelines.
"What the? Nagisa, are you alright? Heck are you even Nagisa?" Said a bewildered Sayuri.
Grandma giggled. "She's just excited about Future Clan Leader becoming like us. This should be a joyous occasion..." Her smile faded as she glanced at her first daughter. "And yet, you seem to be filled with dread, Ren. What else was in that letter?"
Ren glanced at them. She walked away from Nagisa. "Instructions on what to do in his absence."
"Absence?!" Said Nagisa.
"What do you mean absence?!" Said Grandma.
"Sayuri. You should go tend to Akane. She passed out because she's still a homosapien and couldn't protect herself from the surprise backlash of the turds awakening, or cathartsis as he calls it." Said Ren. "She won't be able to handle what comes next on her own."
"What comes next? What won't she be able to handle?!" Said Sayuri.
"Mom..." Akane stumbled out the house. Sayuri caught her in a flash. "What's... happened...what did...aunt mean?"
"Don't pay her any mind. She's just being melodramatic."
She holds her mother's ponytail. "Mom... your hair." Her hair fades up from black to crimson along with her eyes. The other women were the same, except Akane and the tied woman.
Her grandmother frowned. "This feeling. Why does this feel so familiar? Like what Mother in law described... It can't be?!" She turned to Ren with rage in her eyes.
They all hunched forward. Light radiates from the women's back. They ripped the back of their garments and revealed their matching tattoos. They coiled around the women's backs releasing steam and burned their flesh. They grit their teeth and clenched whatever was in reached. Even the bricks of the ground. The tattoo ceased motion and glow fades but the ink was still present.
The women stood wobbly and catched their breaths. Their bodies trembled in the downpour. Everyone was perplexed and looked to Ren for guidance. She stared at the horizon. Tears hidden by the rain. "Goodbye my son who I love dearly." She said under her breath.
Ren's mother tackled her. "Excommunication?! You really let him leave the clan?!" Her cane at her throat. "Of all the dumb shit you've done this is the dumbest, you stupid girl! Why didn't you stop him?!"
"Enough Mother." She pushed herself off the ground and stood upright. "I am still Clan Leader. I do not have to justify myself to you and you will show me respect." She knocked her back. She landed with a skid.
"She's right Mom. You need to calm yourself. I wanna slap the shit out of her just as bad as you do but there are more important things." She took a trembling Akane inside. Her mouth foamed as her eyes rolled.
"I overstepped my bounds." She bowed. "You're right Sayuri. My time has passed, Ren is the current Clan Leader and respect must be shown to the strongest. But I'd still like to know why you let him go."
"I didn't let him go. I couldn't stop him. Think about it. The way how everything happened. Nagisa not being at school, him going to the dock during the time our clan members weren't present, no one saw him and reported him and based on the ink the letter was written three hours ago. Even that fact that we couldn't trace his presence at all outside school but found it on her and this letter." She glanced at the tied woman who flinched and wailed.
"Then that would mean he was kidnapped by some highly skilled people. It would have to be one of our rivals. Maybe the African Cartels or the American Mafia?"
"That's what it would seem like, except we felt it in our bloodline that he had awakened and felt when he excommunicated himself."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Look, all I know is that he wasn't kidnapped. Everything that happened would seem like it but it doesn't add up. Maybe it's just coincidence that everything happened the way it did but all I know is that I couldn't stop it. He's gone and there's nothing I can do about it. That is, until he reaches Japan. Call everyone to start the man hunt at the harbour where that boat should arrive. Let's see how long you can run from me turd."
Ren leaned against the wall. Arms crossed. The door beside her opens. "How is she?" Sayuri closed it behind her.
She sighed. "Well she ain't dead so she'll make it...I hope..."
She rests her hand on her shoulder. "We're Yamaguchi, we don't hope for change we make it." They smiled. The door opened. Their mother came out.
"How is she ma?"
She sighed. "She's not in any life threatening danger. She has a fever but most concerning is her Soul Essence. You already know that unlike the magical beings in this world, we humans do not possess magic."
"Because our souls are located where their Magic pool would be." Said Ren. "Our souls continually produce Soul Essence infinitely. We channel this inexhaustible source of power through our bodies as aura. The quantity is increased whenever our emotions are high therefore we get our strength from feelings."
"You make it sound so wonderful." Said Sayuri. "Don't forget that it's the soul essence that guarantees death for all humans. The energy produced by the soul is so strong and potent that it starts deteriorating homosapiens from before birth. And that's regular humans who haven't figured out how to use aura. Its even worse for people like us who do know. The only reason why we're okay is because we're not homosapiens, but Lesser Humans. Our bodies can handle the strain and won't break down as quickly. Akane-chan isn't like us yet."
"Yes Yamaguchi's are normally born homosapiens and evolve into a Lesser Human at twelve." Said their mother. "Akane is still a homosapien that's been using aura most of her life. A regular person's life span is around sixty years, hers is already down to twenty five."
"We know ma. We agree that if she doesn't evolve by sixteen, we're sealing her aura flow and making her live a normal life."
"Twenty."
"Huh? What?" She blinked.
"You don't mean?" Their mother nods at Ren.
"No. Don't fuck with me Donna."
"Calm down Sayuri."
"No no no no! I fucking refuse to believe!"
"Lieutenant stop. Calm yourself"
"Don't tell me fucking calm down when your son stole five years of my daughter's life!" Her fist smashed into the wall. Her aura flooding the house. She marched forward.
"Sayuri, don't take another step, that's an order." Ren's eyes glowed crimson. Sayuri's eyes reflected hers. She stopped mid stride.
Her aura subsided. She gritted her teeth as she trembled. "You know if he had stuck around, at least I could had said that her five years weren't gone for nothing."
Her eyes return to its usual dark shade. She sighed. "Yeah you're right."
Sayuri's stride finished. Both her and their mother stared at Ren. Astonished at her meek demeanor. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that with all that's happened today-." A fist collides with her face.
"Why are you apologizing? We are not weak."
"You damn bitch!" She slapped her fist away. "I was trying to be considerate!" She punched Ren. They both grin.
"You two never change." Said their mother. She walked away.
"Hey mom. I think it's time to seal her aura flow. With her only having five years left, I don't want to run down anymore of her time with aura. Probably find her a nice boy to settle down with." She smiled weakly. Ren pats her shoulder.
"I don't need too. Its already blocked." They stared. "Our Yamaguchi Clan's bloodline is cursed. This is shown by the mark of our clan that's tattooed on every Yamaguchi's back. To do this" Her hair and eyes went crimson. Aura oozed from her hand. "After deactivating our Hypocrisy Facade technique and going back to our true forms as Lesser Human or Veracity Crimson as we call it, we have to channel our aura to our curse. In exchange we receive cursed aura mixed with our own increasing our combat capabilities and allowing us to coordinate as one unit.
Akane has never managed to do that since she is just a homosapien. When Kai awakened, it sent a feedback through out our bloodline curse. A large amount of cursed aura burst out. Our bodies are use to this cursed aura and naturally transformed to accommodate the large amount.
For Akane who's still a homosapien, the curse aura damaged her body. When the excommunication happened, the curse aura caused a reverse flow and tried to enter her soul dwelling by using the path aura normally exits. To prevent this, her body cut off her aura flow."
"I-I guess that's it then." Said Sayuri. Her head down. "I need to take a walk." She heads downstairs.
"Mom, what about our children and clan members abroad? Though I haven't heard from everyone yet, I have received reports about everyone feeling the awakening and excommunication. Are the Yamaguchi's that have yet to evolve facing the same blocked aura flow as Akane?" Said Ren.
"I assume not. You already know how powerful a Yamaguchi is, is dependent on how strong the curse on them is. And that's determined by how close their lineage is to the current Clan Leader and their proximity." She continued on her way. "The children and the rest should be fine after a slight fever. Worst case is that this forces some of them to evolve prematurely."
"That's a relief." She goes to the stairs.
The halls were in silence. Nagisa stood up in the corner of the hallway and walked over to Akane's door. "Akane. All this time this is what you've been going through all alone. You knew that training would shorten your life span yet you still trained with us. I know that sometimes you don't feel like one of us but, doing this despite knowing you'll die is what makes you a Yamaguchi." She clenched her fist and with gritted teeth she smiled. "I know you won't die. You will awaken. I just know you will so don't you dare die on me." She punched the door. A mark flashed across her collar bone. Her eyes and hair changed briefly. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." She walked away.
Akane wheezed. "Thank you, Nagisa..." She fell to her knees. Her hand clenching her chest. The clothes on her had darkened from sweat. Its too small. I can't breathe. Need to get out! She crawled to the window. She crawled out and rolled off the roof. She propelled herself at the edge with her hand. She spun into the sky. Over the buildings and wall she went. She landed and tumbled.
For some time she stumbled through the forest. Her clothes in tatters, covered in dirt and black sweat. "I... feel like I'm suffocating, yet I'm still alive. My body...is normal, but it feels like I lack something...that I'm lock in a small box..." She collapsed in a small opened area surrounded by rocks that bordered the clearing in the forest. This is irritating. Feels like I'm going to die yet I'm not. Her stomach churned then stiffens. Red liquid flowed out of her mouth. Ugh. Alright I take it back, maybe I am going to die, out here all alone. Why did I even come out here? Instincts?
She barfs again. She wiped her mouth. Her arms were covered in red. She lifted herself up. Her bones break. She fell. Her skull breaks and her left eye squashed. Her face resting in her vomit. The foul stench fill her nostrils. She wheezed. If...I could just use... my aura...if only I could...come on. Before the weight...of my body...breaks my rib cage...and punctures my heart-. The blood had flowed into her nostrils, down her throat and to her lungs.
She laid motionless in a pool of her cold blood.
__Chapter End___