"Give back my sandwich Hakufu!" Koukin snapped at his cousin while chasing her around.
"Gotta catch me first Koukin-kun!" Hakufu stuck her tongue at him while evading him.
Both Gakushuu and Ryomou watch on the sidelines as the two picker and chase eachother over a sandwich.
"… Well… at least their bonding… I think?" Gakushuu said with a smile.
"If this what family do to 'bond' then I'm glad I don't see much of my family." Ryomou sighed.
"Makes you wonder what their family reunion are like huh?"
"Don't even go there Gakushuu-san."
"Goddammit Hakufu! Give that back now!" Koukin yelled at her.
"Not a chance slow poke!" Koukin then went for a dive to get it but she pulled the sandwich out of his reach at the last second.
"Nice try Koukin-kun, but you have to get up pretty early to outsmart me." Hakufu grinned.
Hakufu then took a bite of the sandwich but found the taste to be a little on the airy side. She look at the sandwich and saw there wasn't one. She blinked a few times before looking around for the lost food and saw Ryomou was giving it back to Koukin.
"What the! No fair Ryomou-chan!" Hakufu huffed.
"Here Koukin-san, next time keep a better grip on it." Ryomou gave Koukin a hand getting up.
"Thanks Ryomou-san." He said and started eating his meal.
"Don't mention it; having to deal with your cousin must be a chore. So how's Haru-kun doing?"
"Probably still asleep if I had to guess. Yesterday really was one hell of a day for him." Koukin answered, finishing his sandwich.
"At least he's resting comfortably, and out of the streets away from Toutaku-teme. But I can't help but wonder why was he after Haru-san in the first place? I doubt he knew Haru-san is a dragon so why want him dead?" Gakushuu asked.
"Maybe he was asked to do it in exchange for a price perhaps?" Koukin answered.
"If that's the case than who asked Toutaku-teme to kill Haru-kun?" Ryomou asked.
"Who cares why they want him dead, I say we just crush their asses to the ground like how Haru-kun did to that jerk Crnobog-teme." Hakufu pumped her fist in the air.
"Hakufu we just can't go around beating up people without knowing who they are. We have to be smart about this. We already have our hands full with dealing our destiny and worrying when Crnobog will return so trying to figure out who Toutaku-teme might be working for will require more thought than brawn." Koukin said.
"Fine, so how are we going to do find out why he went after Haru-kun then? It's not like we can go ask Toutaku-teme about this… can we?" Hakufu asks.
"Not likely… but we may have the opportunity to get near him without too much trouble." Gakushuu said rubbing his chin.
"You got a plan?" Ryomou asks.
"I got a message last night when I got home, it was a message to all Fighters that the Big Fighter's Tournament will start within two days from today." Gakushuu held up his phone with the message.
"Big Fighter's Tournament, what's that?" Hakufu asks.
"The tournament is basically an all-out brawl between the schools of the Kanto Region to determine which schools get the top position and maintains the rankings of all the Fighters. For the winning school will have the honor of having the Gyokuji Jewel, this gives them authority over all of the schools of Kanto. But this also makes them targets for the others. Another perk is it gives them the 'pleasure' of picking which date the next tournament will be. And it looks like Toutaku-teme has posted the date for this year's tournament." Ryomou explained.
"Wait so Toutaku-teme will be in this tournament?" Hakufu asks.
"Yeah but probably not in the beginning, he'll most likely let the other Fighters go first and then swoop in to pick off the remaining. And I wouldn't put it past me if he tried to alter it to his favor. But even he won't break the rules of the first matches. Each school will have a maximum of five Fighters representing their schools. Kannei-san is still unstable he is missing and Saji-ecchi is missing, again. Which means we need at least another to take their place." Ryomou sighed.
"Funny you should mention that, along with the message for the tournament I also got another one from Enjutsu-sama saying that both Koukin-san and Hakufu-san should join us." Gakushuu said.
"Wait, us? But why would Enjutsu-sama want us to fight in the tournament, we're not strong Fighters." Koukin asks.
"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that. For months, I can only get in contact with Enjutsu-sama through Emails and text. So figuring out his strategy is not an option at this point, I'm guessing you had no luck in getting a audience with him either Ryomou-san?" Ryomou shook her head.
"The only one that seems to see him is Saji-ecchi and since he's not here we're in the dark of what Enjutsu-sama's plan is with you two." She said.
"Well I'm happy that I'm going to be in this tournament. There's going to be a lot of strong Fighters and that means we can get stronger too. I say this is a great chance to build our strength and show everyone what we're made of." Hakufu said with enthusiasm.
The others smiled at her cheery attitude of the situation there in. After the whole deal with Crnobog and Haru they we're shaken to the bone of what real power was. Both shown that they we're basically gods among mortals with the powers they wield, it was both awe inspiring and scary to see such power. So going back to their world didn't seem all bad now, before they met Haru they thought their lives was a new kind of hell. But they were very wrong, even though they knew Crnobog will return to go after Haru they'll still fight alongside him to whatever comes next. So now this tournament will be both a good experience and a breather of a true fight that will come soon.
"Your right Hakufu, perhaps this will be good for us. But shouldn't we have one more on the team?" Koukin asks.
"I believe we'll be fine with the four of us. Though I have to admit, if we do need a fifth person I would like it be Haru-san. Him being a dragon would surely tip the favor of battle to our way, there wouldn't be a Fighter in all of Kanto that could stand against him, hell even Toutaku-teme wouldn't stand a chance against him. But until he learns to release his anger then that's all it's ever going to be, just an idea." Gakushuu sighed.
"Anger?" The others asked.
"You must of notice that when he transformed he does it when he's greatly angered. Having that much power but only be able to use it when angry is a very dangerous thing; it could lead to many bad results. But when you really think about it, you can't plain him for having that much anger within him. Haru-san has been alone for over 400 years; he lived a hard life thinking he was a freak and a monster with powers and abilities he didn't understand. Haru-san has lived up to this point a true living hellish nightmare, no one caring for you, always trying to find food and shelter, being chased because he looked different, and god knows what other horrors he had to face alone. I can't imagine the anger that he pent up all these years, I'm surprised that he hadn't just snapped completely and started tearing up everything in sight." Gakushuu explained with a serious and sad expression.
The others fell into silence looking at the ground with sad faces. It was one thing to learn that Haru was both homeless and an orphan, but to know he was alone and had the life he did for over 400 years; it was a wonder how he kept his sanity for that long. And the problem does still stand, if Haru does have lots of anger than he'll need to find inner peace or else be consumed by it. But it was hard to think Haru gets angry, it looks like he doesn't have an angry bone in his body. But then again they thought he was a semi-normal looking kid and looked how wrong they were.
"You know, I never really thought about that… I'm still shocked he's older than us… but if you really think about it… to have a life like he did and lived in it for over 400 years… just damn." Koukin said.
"Then we'll have to make sure every day is a day he never feels like that. Haru-kun should know every great thing there is in our world and we'll show it to him making it an adventure." Hakufu said.
"I'm not sure about the adventure part but we'll differently give him the life he deserves. But first things first, we need to get ready for the tournament. Maybe by then Saji-ecchi will pop back up. We all have to get ready for it, maybe Laufey-obaachan and Ignir-ojjisan can teach us some dragon fighting styles as well, could come in handy in our fights." Ryomou suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's head to class, we'll discuss this later." Gakushuu said and the four entered the school.