Butcher, within the stolen body of one of Konori's guardsmen, could be seen walking down a hallway of the Founders Mansion.
"Konori, ruler of Tensen…this is how you operate? How ridiculous. Heh, for what it's worth, I guess it's not entirely ridiculous. I did have fun doing these things…but boy does my master have plans for you. Funny that fool Konori, doesn't know it's me. I could have this fool wrapped around my finger if I really wanted to. Then again, I have no say when it comes to the matter. What he says is final. All I have left to do is relay this back to him…my info on him and this weak nation."
As night comes, Jack would knock on the front door of Leinas house. Before long, Amushi could be seen with a white joker mask on, katana ready, looking as menacing as ever.
"Hey, w-what the? What the hell is this?!" Amushi yells, not knowing what to think of the sight of Kisuka, Yakuto, and Bowa all at his doorstep.
Yakuto would sigh, rolling his eyes, groaning, and scolding Jack, trying to get him to explain, all while Kuro sleeps in his arms, drooling on his shoulder.
"Jaaaack." Yakuto would say with a voice of annoyance.
"Sorry Amushi-Sensei! I could explain-" Jack says before he is soon cut off by the soft voice of a younger Bowa Boa.
"As you can tell, it might be a little awkward. I'm Bowa Boa! One of the cooks of this village. You've probably heard of me! I used to take care of those kids, before these two knuckleheads, Kisuka and Yakuto took that responsibility from me. Orders by Konori Sawlendore…of course" She says, pointing out Yakuto and Kisuka's roles as guardians.
As Bowa says this, she would lean forward to whisper to him.
"But I'm the better guardian." She says.
With that, Amushi couldn't help but let out a sigh before welcoming them into the house.
"Come in." He says.
As they walk in, they're greeted by the presence of Amushi's wife, Hima. Hima is seen holding her youngest daughter, Kara in her arms. Everyone remains mask less for the time being, with Takemi sitting down at the table looking as confused as ever. Leina and Senra however are nowhere to be seen.
"What did I tell you about bringing random strangers into my house?! You have much to learn, Amushi. You disappoint me!" Hima says with a hidden anger in her tone as she balls up her fist.
"Ehheh sorry about that, honey! I was just letting them in because they are Jack and Kuros' new guardians. Not to mention, Bowa Boa's here." Amushi frantically responds with sheer terror in his voice.
Himas frown would turn back to a smile as she accepted this excuse.
"Alright, you get a pass this time." Hima responds.
"Leina! Senra! We have company!" Takemi would yell out.
Soon after, Senra is seen walking down a set of stairs in the house, wearing her red kimono with a white kitsune mask on her face.
"Leinas meditating outside. She's been doing that all day today." Senra would respond.
Soon after, Leina could be seen outside, meditating in silence. Within her mind, she could only think of how Takemi would be smacked by a woman right in front of her.
"That was my brother. Being harmed by someone…and I couldn't do anything. What good am I if I don't do anything at all? Why didn't I do anything? Would Takemi even forgive me? What if someone was in danger? What could I have done?" Leina thinks to herself.
"No…I can't show that side of myself. That has to stay hidden. It's too dangerous. What would anyone think? I'm scared. I can't do that. If I do, my clan will find a reason to-"
"Hey! Leina!" Jack yells from behind Leina, interrupting her own thoughts, causing her to turn to look at Jack in response.
"Huh? Jack, you're here! I thought you might have been busy with your dad. After that explosion, I wanted to see what happened. But my mother and father didn't want that." Leina explains.
"Some bad guy is in the village, doing this. Somehow he didn't get beat up by my dad. He's running around somewhere in the village right now." Jack would respond, explaining the current situation to the unaware Leina.
"What?" Leina says, not knowing what to say.
"Hey? You kids coming inside? It's a bit too cold out here to be doing nothing." Yakuto would say from behind both Leina and Jack.
Soon, the whole family could be seen sitting down at the long table, eating a new and delicious looking meal, all except for Leina who seems to look uncomfortable. Senra would separate the lower portion of her mask entirely, so she could at least eat.
"I'm happy to have you all here tonight! It's really an honor. Oh by the way, I haven't gotten your names. My name is Hima…Hima Tensura." Hima says with an interest in both Yakuto and Kisuka.
"Our pleasure. My name is Yakuto. That's Kisuka, my older brother. Me and him were once gladiators that fought for our lives to escape a corrupt system of an old village that's foreign to this one." He says.
"We were imprisoned for years because we never agreed to a system that went against its own people. And there, they held cruel tournaments where prisoners would have to fight to the death." Kisuka reveals with a soft and almost regretful tone.
"So you killed lots of innocent people?" Leina would then ask.
"We did. Most were undeserving." Kisuka confirms.
"How could you do that to innocent people?!" Leina would say, raising her voice at Kisuka, with Kisuka only looking down with little to say.
"As much as we wanted to spare those involved, we were forced to kill. It was kill or be killed. And I wasn't going to let my little brother suffer on his own. They had their own reasons to give it their all, just as much as we did. But with a system where chaos and fury is all that the higher ups know, death would be no surprise. It came just as quick and easily as breathing. Trust me kid, I never wanted to do the things I was forced to do. And I hope I never have to face any conflict that will bring that part out of me, again." Kisuka would say with conviction.
"It must've been hell for you two. I'm sorry that's all happened. At least you two made it out." Hima says, trying to reassure the twins of their past.
"I'm sorry for yelling…I didn't mean it. That sorta stuff makes my blood boil." Leina would say, before going silent once again.
"My brother died from something similar. He was captured by our rival clan, the Hansura. What they did to him…they will never be forgiven for what they did. Having him fight in a tournament against his own people, to prove his strength to have a chance at being free. He never dared to raise a blade toward any of our own. So he laid down his weapon, before being executed right in front of the one he was supposed to fight."
Amushi says with an angered look.
"What scum! Those people are horrible! If I could have their heads in my hand, I'd crush them one by one." Jack says with a determined and angered look.
"CRUSH CRUSH!" Kuro says in response to Jack's words.
"CRUSH CRUSH!" Kara would then say, still being held in Hima's arms.
Hima and Amushi would both chuckle at this interaction, with the gladiator twins both flashing a smile.
"Do you always make food this good, Bowa Boa?" Takemi asks with intrigue in his voice.
"I do! But this time I put something extra in the food. I stored my essence into it! It helps with vitality and your overall strength." Bowa responds.
"No wonder I feel so refreshed. It's almost like your sakura flowers, Hima!" Amushi would say with a surprised look.
"That's amazing! I mold mine into the flowers in the front lawn! Breathing them in helps with your breathing and eliminates disease and viruses upon contact." Hima would tell Bowa Boa.
"Leina, how are you going to eat with that mask on?" Jack questions.
"Yeah! I put work into that meal ya know? I'd like to know how it tastes. It's shrimp with a little bit of sushi! You should give it a try! I'd love to know your opinion!" Bowa says eagerness.
"I'm sorry to tell you but Leina can't eat most foods. She for some reason can only eat meat from animals outside. We tried everything. Nothing worked." Hima would inform Bowa.
"I see…" Bowa says in response
"Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt to try the shrimp." Leina says, before standing up and turning away from everyone before taking off her mask.
She takes a piece of shrimp before taking a bite. Soon after, she begins to convulse, trying not to vomit just on the taste.
"Leina!" Jack would yell before trying to help her.
In response, Leina would hold her hand out, stopping Jack in his tracks before she finished, swallowing the shrimp she had picked off of the plate.
"All done." Leina says, wiping her mouth off, putting her mask back on and turning back to look at everyone.
"How was it?" Bowa asks.
"It was…good." Leina responds.
"I'm sorry if it wasn't the best meal for you. I'll be sure to make something else for you." Bowa assures.
"Thank you…" Leina says in response.
"I feel like it's a good time to train with Amushi-sensei! There's still so much I have to learn!" Jack would insist.
"Attaboy! Way ahead of you!" Amushi responds.
"Really? No training with your fellow guardians? I thought we could give you better training." Yakuto says in surprise.
"I have a long way to go before I start training with you guys." Jack replies, knowing just how strong the twins are.
"Oh really? And how long is that going to take?" Kisuka asks with a smile.
"I don't know" Jack would answer.
"Heh, we'll see then." Kisuka would say.
As Jack gets up from the table, Amushi would follow suit, with them both walking out into the backyard.
"So, Jack…are you familiar with what Mana is? Surely you should know, unless your father hasn't told you." Amushi would ask with a hidden interest.
"Not really…I thought it had something to do with your body." Jack responds, trying to give his best guess to what Mana is.
"Mana…the existence of one's soul. The soul in its entirety. The pure manifestation of true essence. Your mana is your soul itself.
There are only three stages of Mana: Essence, Seishin, and Wrath. Three of which contain different ways of channeling its power.
Essence is the existence of energy throughout your physical body and soul.
Seishin is the existence of energy that your inner Mana possesses and creates. Your inner Mana being the epicenter of your soul's existence…the motherboard to the soul in its entirety.
Wrath is the existence of both Seishin and Essence being merged into one another, creating a far more powerful force within the soul. This does take a lot of control and training to pull off. It takes a lot of stamina to use its power, since your inner Mana is responsible for keeping you on your toes. So tread carefully in using such power." Amushi would lecture, informing Jack about each and every power system at his disposal.
"W-woah that's cool! How do I make all of these stronger?" Jack would question, adamant on getting stronger for the future.
"It's simple but can be difficult. The key to making these stronger all reside within your Mana. You must make your Mana stronger in order for the rest of those to get stronger. Meditation is one of the many ways to increase the strength of your Mana. Not only does it make it stronger, but it also increases your overall reserves as well." Amushi reveals.
"Umm…what does that mean, Amushi-sensei?" Jack questions, confused with all of Amushi's big words and vocabulary, only making Amushi crack a smile.
"Heh, it means you'll have more energy, and you'll be stronger than before. Usually your reserves will increase, along with your Manas power getting larger, from extreme conditions, like stress, pain, suffering, anger, sadness, rage, training, real battles, extreme conditions, and near death situations. But the most impactful for most is meditation.
Meditation teaches you to be calm even during bad situations. Being calm could be a super power. It could alter the difference between life and death. As long as you meditate, train, and keep your fighting spirit high, and allow yourself to feel the light that you've always dreamed of feeling, you will always get stronger!" Amushi responds.
"That's a lot…but it sounds really cool! People can all get stronger in their own way!" Jack says with excitement.
"Knowing just how capable you are, I bet you can make it cool, yourself Jack." Amushi would say, complimenting Jack and his potential as a skilled fighter.
"Hey! Amushi! You forgot about us, everything alright?" Kisuka could be heard asking, as he walks out of the house and into the backyard with Yakuto by his side.
"Oh of course! Just teaching the little one about Mana and the many natures of it, in its entirety!" Amushi responds.
"Oh? At his little age? Don't you think it's up to the father to be teaching him such things? We surely wouldn't want him to be a danger to himself, Amushi." Yakuto says, being skeptical of Amushi's validity in revealing the natures of Mana to Jack so early.
"You took the words right out of my mouth on that one brother." Says Kisuka.
"Oh hush, you weren't even going to say that in the slightest. You were probably going to go over one of your 'Oh CaN I gEt aN uNdErStAnDiNg oN wHaT eXaCtLy YoU sAiD?' Tangents." Yakuto comedically replies, mocking Kisuka while being as serious as ever."
"Rest assured, I only went over the safe ones." Amushi assures.
"I'm glad to hear." Kisuka responds.
"Safe ones?" Jack thinks.
"So, what do you say Jack, would you like to go through Mana training?" Amushi would ask the young Jack, with Jack smiling back in return.
"It will take a while but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it, little one." Amushi would say with a promising smile.
The sun could be seen in the sky shining over the morning horizon. Two years have passed, as Leina could be seen looking a bit taller than before, wearing the same kimono she grew up with, but a size larger. Her hair grown and down to her waist, she walks in the hall of Tensen Academy in silence still wearing the same mask she's always been wearing.
"Hey…" an older voice could be heard saying.
As Leina looks over, she sees a slightly older Kyuya. His spiky hair is longer as his height is much taller than before. He wears basic all black clothing. Black pants and a black long sleeve. He's seen glaring back at her, almost bothered by her presence.
"What is it, Kyuya?" Leina would question with annoyance.
"Remember what I told you two years ago? It's happening. So you better be on your toes from now on. Remember, I'm not your enemy here. Not yet at least." Kyuya says.
"Whatever Kyuya. It was two years ago. Nothing changed, you're just saying things just to say things." Leina responds.
"You don't have to believe me, Leina. After all, I know you don't trust me. Neither do I. But hey, don't say I didn't warn you. This is all your fault. You caused all of this" Kyuya says before walking away in the direction Leina had come from.
"What the hell are you talking about, Kyuya? I'm tired of you not telling me what you're hiding from me, when it's about me!" Leina says, frustrated from Kyuya's antics.
"I don't need to answer your questions anymore. I'm not your concern anymore, and there's more people you should be worrying about. People like…heh…nevermind." Kyuya responds, trying not to reveal anything too damning yet.
"What people?" Leina questions.
"You'll see…soon enough." Kyuya answers as he walks off.
"Whatever you say, weirdo." Leina says before walking off and turning a corner.
"Hello there…" a different voice would say. But this voice would trigger some shock, with the familiarity of this voice.
"That voice…" Leina says to herself.
As Leina turns to see who is talking, she sees a girl around the same height as her, wearing a white Kimono with blood red stripes across the sides and sleeves. Her hair is in pigtails. But noticeably, her hair would be in a two toned color of white and red. with the left being white and the right being red. Both her eyes are complementary of both sides of her hair, with her left eye being white and the other being red. Standing there, calmly looking back at Leina with a sly and ominous grin.
"It's…you…D-Donna…Akemina…" Leina says with a shocked tone. With a noticeable fear in her eyes as she stares back at this girl known as Donna Akemina. As she processes who is standing right before her, Donna lets out her words directed towards no other than Leina.
"It's been a long time…Leina Tensura."