"Please help! My siblings are in danger!"
"Anyone, please help!"
Mikan cried out as she stood in the middle of the village.
Her pleas fell on empty ears.
A few villagers recognized her.
"Hey, isn't that one of Budo's?"
"Her siblings are in danger? Is it because of that black-haired kid they took in years ago?"
"Hunting this close to winter? I'm sure they were warned this would happen. Looks like it finally did."
"See? I knew it'd be bad luck. Didn't I tell you?"
"Bullshit, I said that! I told you their farmland's dying because of the curse that kid brought."
"I heard the kid actually has a tail. Isn't that demonic?"
"I heard they lost a boy a long time ago... they replaced it so soon?"
The words cut deep.
Mikan wanted to refute what they said.
She couldn't stop her tears from flowing, but she never stopped yelling.
"Please! A giant boar attacked us while hunting! I ran because I was the fastest! Please, anyone, help us!"
A handful of martial apprentices stood nearby, supposedly "protecting" the village. None of them moved.
After all, what was in it for them?
That peasant family had nothing. They probably wouldn't even survive the winter.
Why waste time on a weak beast, or risk their life for no reward? They would rather train once their shift ended.
Some degenerate types did approach Mikan, their intentions painfully obvious.
The villagers looked away in disgust, but none dared intervene. Those were martial apprentices. They were powerless.
To Mikan, it didn't matter.
She grabbed onto a burly martial artist. "Please, sir! Please help my siblings!"
The man grinned slimily and caught her wrist. "Oh no. Lead me to them. Leave it to me. I'm quite powerful," he said, his eyes roaming her body.
"Thank you! Thank you! Come, this way!"
She tore herself free and sprinted toward the forest.
"Tch. She's fast," the man muttered as he followed.
"She smelled good, though. That one had potential. I wonder how she compares to her siblings? Hehehe."
Despite his bulk, he kept up with surprising ease.
Nearby, a hooded man sat on a bench and listened.
"…"
He took a bite out of his sandwich.
In the next instant, he vanished.
The half-bitten sandwich hit the ground.
——————
Mikan ran through the forest, retracing her steps with frantic precision.
Please be okay. Please be okay.
She burst into the clearing by the river.
The devastation hit her first.
Then she saw them.
Her siblings.
Hurt, battered, but alive.
"ICHIGO! RINGO!"
Ringo sat beside Ichigo, her arm bloodied. Ichigo lay unconscious, his chest barely rising. Ringo's eyes were hollow, swollen from endless tears.
Mikan threw her arms around her. "YOU'RE ALIVE! WHAT ABOUT ICHIGO?"
"…Unconscious," Ringo whispered, her voice hoarse and weak.
Mikan collapsed into sobs. "Thank goodness… thank goodness…"
"…Merun," Ringo said.
Mikan froze. "What?"
She looked around, dread creeping up her spine. "Where's Merun?"
Her voice dropped. "Where's the beast?"
Ringo trembled and pointed toward a path carved violently through the forest.
"What? No… don't joke like that," Mikan said. "Where's Merun?"
Ringo broke down again. "He saved us. He jumped on top of it, and it tore through the forest with him on it."
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "It's my fault. I thought I could protect you all, but I was too weak. Merun had to save us."
Mikan staggered back, shock numbing her limbs. She turned to run.
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Wait just a minute."
The man stared at the destruction, unease creeping into his expression.
What kind of beast does this?
Shit… should I just dip?
But then his eyes turned to the sisters.
"…These are your sisters, huh?" A slow smile spread across his face.
"You didn't tell me you were all flowers. Why haven't I seen you during my shifts?"
"Ah… father said we had to be careful of bad people," Mikan replied weakly.
Ringo immediately shifted in front of her. "Who's that?"
"A martial apprentice," Mikan said, though even she didn't sound convinced. "He agreed to help."
"Exactly!" the man said. "I'll help all three of you get out. But first, I should inspect if you're okay. Hehe. You never know? Hehe."
"Lay a hand on my sister and you'll die, bastard," Ringo said flatly.
For a moment, the man hesitated.
Then he noticed her injured arm and grinned.
"Don't be like that. I'm here to help."
Saliva pooled at the corner of his mouth.
I've hit the jackpot.
He reached toward the unconscious Ichigo.
SLASH
"Huh?"
His hand hit the dirt with a wet thud.
"…Huh?"
He stared at the stump.
"My… hand?"
"AAAAAH! MY HAND!"
"It's a good thing I came," a calm voice said. "To think this bastard would even touch children."
A hooded man stood behind him, clad in a black-and-green dougi. His voice was serene. His presence was strangely comforting.
Ringo and Mikan froze.
They hadn't sensed him.
They hadn't seen him move.
He held no blade.
They couldn't see his face, but they knew one thing.
He was powerful.
Mikan clutched his sleeve. "Our youngest! He's still in danger! He's on top of the beast right now! Please save him!"
His gaze sharpened. "Where?"
"Over there!" they said in unison.
"Leave it to me. But first..."
He vanished.
Then reappeared beside the screaming man.
One punch.
The man crumpled, unconscious, froth bubbling from his mouth.
"That's done," the hooded man said. "Be right back."
He shot off along the trail of destruction.
He left as suddenly as he arrived, yet the sisters felt safe in his wake.
"Thank goodness he followed me," Mikan whispered. "I didn't even see him in the village…"
She glanced at Ringo. "Are you alright?"
"…So cool," Ringo muttered.
——————
The hooded man followed the ruined path.
What kind of beast does this so close to a village?
Was it that ape from years ago?
No. If it were, the girls wouldn't have survived.
Then he saw it.
A monstrous boar, as large as a house, bristling with dozens of tusks. Its body was riddled with scratches, its back crushed as if something immense had slammed into it.
Its furious eyes locked onto a broken boy beneath it.
The boy looked absolutely pitiful.
...and it had a tail.
Wait… Isn't this the monkey kid? I thought she said it was her sibling that was in danger?
And then something clicked.
…So that's it.
The hooded man smiled.
"It seems I was right after all."
The boar brought down its massive front legs, ready to finish him.
Too late.
SLICE
With a simple gesture, two fingers pointed forward, the boar was cleaved cleanly in half.
The apex predator fell.
The hooded man approached the boy.
In his final moments, the child had unleashed suffocating killing intent. Stronger than anything the man had felt in years, surpassing even seasoned masters.
Had it surfaced sooner, the beast would never have attacked.
The boy lay broken. Blood seeped from every orifice. Bones crushed. Limbs twisted.
Dead, by any normal measure.
And yet, he smiled.
Broken and missing teeth, stained red.
"I won," the boy murmured.
The hooded man knelt beside the boy.
"You won, little warrior. Rest now. Your family is safe."
The boy's smile faded.
He began to snore.
The hooded man stared, then laughed quietly.
"I've never seen someone sleep so soundly while so close to death."
A second later, his amused expression disappeared.
Killing intent flaring briefly.
"If I didn't sense the love your siblings had for you, I would have killed you on the spot."
The pressure vanished as quickly as it came when he smiled.
"Protect your new family," he said softly.
"For your sake."