Status: Book 1 of 4+
Alpha X
A New Leader
It has been a few days since the chaos caused by Kobura’s curse on Sirus. Sirus has gained control of himself, and Sirus and Hina have tried to get their lives back on track. They moved into a hotel room while their home is repaired. The loss of their son has left a scar on the young couple. While Sirus seems to be able to function, Hina has been lost in a daze, staring into space most of the time. Jinsoku had been hospitalized, due to severe wounds, and hasn’t awaken since his fight with Sirus. Raviel and Karai have been fully healed and are back on their feet. The whole capital city has gathered around for Mikoto’s funeral in the graveyard outside the city.
“That son of a bitch. I’m gonna kill him. Yuki, I’m gonna kill him!” Noroi screamed, looking at Mikoto’s body with tears in his eyes. Yuki placed his hand on Noroi’s shoulder and silently paid his respects to Mikoto. Yuki pulled Noroi away from the body.
“You can’t kill him. Sirus didn’t mean to do this. Kobura cursed him; he didn’t know what he was doing.” Yuki explained calmly. “Don’t you remember Hitsugaya explaining?”
“I don’t care! That bastard murdered Mikoto-Ousama!” Noroi screamed, crying.
“Mikoto-Ousama raised Sirus; he was the closest thing Sirus had to a father. I guarantee you that Sirus is feeling worse than you are.” Yuki reminded him.
“I spoke with Sirus earlier today.” Karai told the boys, walking up to them.
“I talked to him yesterday.” Raviel said, approaching the group. “He surprised me; he didn’t seem upset at all. With his son and Mikoto dying, I thought he’d be a wreck.”
“Sirus cried today.” Karai said solemnly. She looked down before continuing, as if talking more to herself than to the group. “He tries to be strong, especially with Hina in her condition. If it wasn’t for the relationship that we have, I doubt Sirus would have shown his true colors to me. Sirus…” Karai looked up.
“What did that bitch say?” Noroi asked.
“I promised him I wouldn’t repeat any of it, not even to Hina.” Karai said, looking back down. Karai muttered to herself, soft enough that the rest of the group couldn’t hear it. “You’re not weak, Sirus.”
--------------------
Sirus watched the funeral from atop a nearby hill, sitting with Hina. Sirus had his eyes closed, preventing tears. Hina was staring off into space, which she has been doing a lot in the last few days. Sirus wrapped his arm around Hina and pulled her to him, causing her to lay in his lap.
“Not gonna go?” Hina said, slowly. Hina hasn’t talked much at all. When she did talk, however, it was always slow.
“No, I already did enough. The whole city hates me because of this incident.” Sirus said quietly. Despite what he said, Sirus knew that in truth, very few men knew who killed Mikoto, or what Sirus had done at all. The most common theory was that it was an assassin from Slieza, which wasn’t entirely false. Sirus has become very quiet since the incident. However, Sirus attempted to hide his true depression to be strong for the worse off Hina. The only person he’s opened up to was Karai.
“You should.”
“I paid my respects this morning, before the funeral.” Sirus looked away from the graveyard, and toward Domino. A large portion of the village was still heavily destroyed.
“Were you serious?” Sirus knew immediately what Hina was referring to.
“I’m not sure. Maybe. Would you come with me? We have too many bad memories here.”
“Yea, I would.” Hina answered. Sirus’s attention was pulled away as he heard the sound of footsteps.
--------------------
Black jeans and a black jacket, Karite Zetsumei stepped in front of the casket containing Mikoto’s corpse. Karite Zetsumei trained under Mikoto for several years, and was chosen by Mikoto to be his successor.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Lino Shi, listen to me.” Karite yelled over the crowd. There were several people attending the funeral whom were not from Domino, but lived in neighboring villages. “Mikoto-Ousama led a great rule over this land in the short years he was in power. I will follow in his footsteps. I promise you all that Kobura will die and Slieza will burn for the crimes they have committed here just a few days ago. I will lead us into a new golden age, and the entire world into this same golden age, an age without Slieza. We need to stand up again and fight. We need to march into Slieza and burn them to the ground. Slieza thinks we are afraid and weak, but we aren’t. We are prideful. We are powerful. We are determined. We are Lino Shi!”
Many people cheered for Karite. Chants began “Karite-Ousama! Karite-Ousama!” Karite had motivated his country and brought the morale back to the lost souls. Karite was determined to avenge his mentor’s death.
--------------------
“Who is this guy?” Noroi asked.
“Yuki, your brother’s an idiot.” Karai told Yuki.
“Hey!” Noroi yelled.
“Noroi, she’s right.” Yuki told Noroi. Noroi punched Yuki in the arm.
“Karite harbors one of the nine demons, making him extremely powerful.” Hitsugaya explained, joining the group. “I’ve heard rumors of his strength, he fought a demon right here in Lino Shi, only a few kilometers out from Domino itself.”
“Yea. In Hidekaim, Karite-Ousama fought alongside my brother to stop a demon twenty years ago.” Raviel explained.
“Karite is extremely powerful. I just hope he is strong enough to kill Kobura.” Hitsugaya said.
“Look, I see through your little game. You ‘helped’ us one time, and you expect us to trust you? You are a member of the Band of Three. I know that you are just trying to lure us in Kobura’s trap. All Kobura wants is Sirus. I may hate Sirus, but I won’t let him fall into Kobura’s clutches, so why don’t you just get outta here?” Noroi told Hitsugaya. To Hitsugaya, this outburst felt almost forced and didn't feel natural. It felt like the boy was trying to be strong in front of the group. Hitsugaya looked at the group whom all seemed hesitant to give their responses. Hitsugaya turned and walked away, not wanting to start a fight.
--------------------
The next day, Sirus met up with Karai in the ruins of the battlefield where Mikoto died. Karai was carrying a bag with her, filled with baseballs. Karai also had a rope wrapped around her shoulder.
“Morning.” Karai said cheerfully, with a smile. “You ready to begin your curse mark training?”
“What’s with the bag?” Sirus asked, cautiously.
“Well, you need to control your anger to control your curse.” Karai started.
“Am I going to like this?”
“Probably not.”
“Is it going to help me?”
“Hopefully.”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Definitely.” Karai said with a smile. Sirus braced himself as Karai tied his arms behind his back and to a tree. Karai stood about 10 meters away from Sirus. She pulled out a baseball out of the bag. Sirus saw the baseball and clenched his teeth; it was obvious what was coming next. Sirus closed his eyes as he felt massive pain in his groin. Sirus looks down and sees a baseball dropping from his groin, and his pain was immense.
“That… fucking… hurt!” Sirus yelled.
“Control yourself.” Karai taunted.
“Fuck you!” Sirus yelled. Karai threw another baseball, hitting Sirus in the chin.
“What the fuck? Get me the fuck down!” Sirus was screaming.
“We’re training. Control yourself.” Karai taunted again. Sirus’s curse was growing, spreading from his shoulder down through his arm. Karai dropped the baseball and ran toward Sirus, hugging him. “Okay, okay. We’re done. I’m sorry. This was cruel.”
“Get… the fuck… away from me.” Sirus said. Karai looked at Sirus while untying him, noticing his eyes had a red tint that they never had before. Karai untied Sirus, whom shoved her, causing her to fall on the ground. Sirus approached her, clenching his fist. Karai got back to her feet and begged Sirus to control himself.
“Stop! Stop! Don’t let the curse take control! Stop Sirus!” Karai begged. Sirus grabbed Karai and pulled his hand back to punch her, but opened his fist, let go of her, and turned away from her.
“I’m going to Hitsugaya for help.” Sirus said, coldly. Before Karai could stop him, Sirus opened a wormhole and was gone.
--------------------
“How’s he doing?” Raviel asked, approaching Tara and Jinsoku.
“He’s recovering, slowly. His damage was enormous, but he’s recovering. Even with my power I cannot rewind time enough to fix his wounds, they are too severe. Jinsoku has yet to awaken.” Tara said, solemnly. Out of the corner of her eye, Tara noticed Karai walk out of the shadows.
“Hey Karai… what’s up?” Raviel asked.
“Well I’ll let the lovers get private time.” Tara said, walking out with a laugh.
“Lovers? What did she mean by lovers? You didn’t tell her did you?” Karai asked, with a glare.
“Tara’s just a douche; I didn’t tell her anything.” Raviel answered. “Anyway what’s up?”
“Sirus is worrying me. I took Sirus out to help him train to control his curse, and I guess I was a bit cruel.” Karai started. “I threw baseballs at him, to make him control his curse by controlling his anger. However, it went bad, he quickly began losing control. When I went to help him he grabbed me and almost punched me before controlling himself. However he left…”Karai stopped and took a breath. “He left to go train with Hitsugaya.”
“I don’t like this. I did research into Hitsugaya; he was in the original Band of Three. I have doubts that he really changed his allegiance and wants to bring down Kobura.” Raviel told Karai.
“That’s why this worries me. What if Hitsugaya is giving Sirus to his curse, to allow Kobura easier control?”
“We just need to keep an eye on this. Sirus, under his curse, was strong enough to kill Mikoto-Ousama. I doubt Kobura has given up with Sirus.”
--------------------
Approaching the city gates, a man viewed his surroundings with a smile. “Ahh, Domino. I never expected to find you here, father. Now the question is, where are you? And more importantly, where am I going to kill you?”
“That son of a bitch. I’m gonna kill him. Yuki, I’m gonna kill him!” Noroi screamed, looking at Mikoto’s body with tears in his eyes. Yuki placed his hand on Noroi’s shoulder and silently paid his respects to Mikoto. Yuki pulled Noroi away from the body.
“You can’t kill him. Sirus didn’t mean to do this. Kobura cursed him; he didn’t know what he was doing.” Yuki explained calmly. “Don’t you remember Hitsugaya explaining?”
“I don’t care! That bastard murdered Mikoto-Ousama!” Noroi screamed, crying.
“Mikoto-Ousama raised Sirus; he was the closest thing Sirus had to a father. I guarantee you that Sirus is feeling worse than you are.” Yuki reminded him.
“I spoke with Sirus earlier today.” Karai told the boys, walking up to them.
“I talked to him yesterday.” Raviel said, approaching the group. “He surprised me; he didn’t seem upset at all. With his son and Mikoto dying, I thought he’d be a wreck.”
“Sirus cried today.” Karai said solemnly. She looked down before continuing, as if talking more to herself than to the group. “He tries to be strong, especially with Hina in her condition. If it wasn’t for the relationship that we have, I doubt Sirus would have shown his true colors to me. Sirus…” Karai looked up.
“What did that bitch say?” Noroi asked.
“I promised him I wouldn’t repeat any of it, not even to Hina.” Karai said, looking back down. Karai muttered to herself, soft enough that the rest of the group couldn’t hear it. “You’re not weak, Sirus.”
--------------------
Sirus watched the funeral from atop a nearby hill, sitting with Hina. Sirus had his eyes closed, preventing tears. Hina was staring off into space, which she has been doing a lot in the last few days. Sirus wrapped his arm around Hina and pulled her to him, causing her to lay in his lap.
“Not gonna go?” Hina said, slowly. Hina hasn’t talked much at all. When she did talk, however, it was always slow.
“No, I already did enough. The whole city hates me because of this incident.” Sirus said quietly. Despite what he said, Sirus knew that in truth, very few men knew who killed Mikoto, or what Sirus had done at all. The most common theory was that it was an assassin from Slieza, which wasn’t entirely false. Sirus has become very quiet since the incident. However, Sirus attempted to hide his true depression to be strong for the worse off Hina. The only person he’s opened up to was Karai.
“You should.”
“I paid my respects this morning, before the funeral.” Sirus looked away from the graveyard, and toward Domino. A large portion of the village was still heavily destroyed.
“Were you serious?” Sirus knew immediately what Hina was referring to.
“I’m not sure. Maybe. Would you come with me? We have too many bad memories here.”
“Yea, I would.” Hina answered. Sirus’s attention was pulled away as he heard the sound of footsteps.
--------------------
Black jeans and a black jacket, Karite Zetsumei stepped in front of the casket containing Mikoto’s corpse. Karite Zetsumei trained under Mikoto for several years, and was chosen by Mikoto to be his successor.
“Ladies and gentlemen of Lino Shi, listen to me.” Karite yelled over the crowd. There were several people attending the funeral whom were not from Domino, but lived in neighboring villages. “Mikoto-Ousama led a great rule over this land in the short years he was in power. I will follow in his footsteps. I promise you all that Kobura will die and Slieza will burn for the crimes they have committed here just a few days ago. I will lead us into a new golden age, and the entire world into this same golden age, an age without Slieza. We need to stand up again and fight. We need to march into Slieza and burn them to the ground. Slieza thinks we are afraid and weak, but we aren’t. We are prideful. We are powerful. We are determined. We are Lino Shi!”
Many people cheered for Karite. Chants began “Karite-Ousama! Karite-Ousama!” Karite had motivated his country and brought the morale back to the lost souls. Karite was determined to avenge his mentor’s death.
--------------------
“Who is this guy?” Noroi asked.
“Yuki, your brother’s an idiot.” Karai told Yuki.
“Hey!” Noroi yelled.
“Noroi, she’s right.” Yuki told Noroi. Noroi punched Yuki in the arm.
“Karite harbors one of the nine demons, making him extremely powerful.” Hitsugaya explained, joining the group. “I’ve heard rumors of his strength, he fought a demon right here in Lino Shi, only a few kilometers out from Domino itself.”
“Yea. In Hidekaim, Karite-Ousama fought alongside my brother to stop a demon twenty years ago.” Raviel explained.
“Karite is extremely powerful. I just hope he is strong enough to kill Kobura.” Hitsugaya said.
“Look, I see through your little game. You ‘helped’ us one time, and you expect us to trust you? You are a member of the Band of Three. I know that you are just trying to lure us in Kobura’s trap. All Kobura wants is Sirus. I may hate Sirus, but I won’t let him fall into Kobura’s clutches, so why don’t you just get outta here?” Noroi told Hitsugaya. To Hitsugaya, this outburst felt almost forced and didn't feel natural. It felt like the boy was trying to be strong in front of the group. Hitsugaya looked at the group whom all seemed hesitant to give their responses. Hitsugaya turned and walked away, not wanting to start a fight.
--------------------
The next day, Sirus met up with Karai in the ruins of the battlefield where Mikoto died. Karai was carrying a bag with her, filled with baseballs. Karai also had a rope wrapped around her shoulder.
“Morning.” Karai said cheerfully, with a smile. “You ready to begin your curse mark training?”
“What’s with the bag?” Sirus asked, cautiously.
“Well, you need to control your anger to control your curse.” Karai started.
“Am I going to like this?”
“Probably not.”
“Is it going to help me?”
“Hopefully.”
“Is it going to hurt?”
“Definitely.” Karai said with a smile. Sirus braced himself as Karai tied his arms behind his back and to a tree. Karai stood about 10 meters away from Sirus. She pulled out a baseball out of the bag. Sirus saw the baseball and clenched his teeth; it was obvious what was coming next. Sirus closed his eyes as he felt massive pain in his groin. Sirus looks down and sees a baseball dropping from his groin, and his pain was immense.
“That… fucking… hurt!” Sirus yelled.
“Control yourself.” Karai taunted.
“Fuck you!” Sirus yelled. Karai threw another baseball, hitting Sirus in the chin.
“What the fuck? Get me the fuck down!” Sirus was screaming.
“We’re training. Control yourself.” Karai taunted again. Sirus’s curse was growing, spreading from his shoulder down through his arm. Karai dropped the baseball and ran toward Sirus, hugging him. “Okay, okay. We’re done. I’m sorry. This was cruel.”
“Get… the fuck… away from me.” Sirus said. Karai looked at Sirus while untying him, noticing his eyes had a red tint that they never had before. Karai untied Sirus, whom shoved her, causing her to fall on the ground. Sirus approached her, clenching his fist. Karai got back to her feet and begged Sirus to control himself.
“Stop! Stop! Don’t let the curse take control! Stop Sirus!” Karai begged. Sirus grabbed Karai and pulled his hand back to punch her, but opened his fist, let go of her, and turned away from her.
“I’m going to Hitsugaya for help.” Sirus said, coldly. Before Karai could stop him, Sirus opened a wormhole and was gone.
--------------------
“How’s he doing?” Raviel asked, approaching Tara and Jinsoku.
“He’s recovering, slowly. His damage was enormous, but he’s recovering. Even with my power I cannot rewind time enough to fix his wounds, they are too severe. Jinsoku has yet to awaken.” Tara said, solemnly. Out of the corner of her eye, Tara noticed Karai walk out of the shadows.
“Hey Karai… what’s up?” Raviel asked.
“Well I’ll let the lovers get private time.” Tara said, walking out with a laugh.
“Lovers? What did she mean by lovers? You didn’t tell her did you?” Karai asked, with a glare.
“Tara’s just a douche; I didn’t tell her anything.” Raviel answered. “Anyway what’s up?”
“Sirus is worrying me. I took Sirus out to help him train to control his curse, and I guess I was a bit cruel.” Karai started. “I threw baseballs at him, to make him control his curse by controlling his anger. However, it went bad, he quickly began losing control. When I went to help him he grabbed me and almost punched me before controlling himself. However he left…”Karai stopped and took a breath. “He left to go train with Hitsugaya.”
“I don’t like this. I did research into Hitsugaya; he was in the original Band of Three. I have doubts that he really changed his allegiance and wants to bring down Kobura.” Raviel told Karai.
“That’s why this worries me. What if Hitsugaya is giving Sirus to his curse, to allow Kobura easier control?”
“We just need to keep an eye on this. Sirus, under his curse, was strong enough to kill Mikoto-Ousama. I doubt Kobura has given up with Sirus.”
--------------------
Approaching the city gates, a man viewed his surroundings with a smile. “Ahh, Domino. I never expected to find you here, father. Now the question is, where are you? And more importantly, where am I going to kill you?”