Shi's Tale ~ Chap 2 - Abilities Awoken

Hey! I'm back with chapter 2! =D

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“Ka – san, will Ni – san be coming out soon?”
“In a while, Aiko. In a while.”
I watched and waiting eagerly for Nanashi to make his appearance. What spell would he cast? Nightshade? Dark Shadow? Despite being a future cleric of the water, I had always found my brother’s spell casting sessions interesting. The part where I got hit by accident wasn’t so appealing, though. It took ages for Ka – san to expel the Dark Aura from my body. That incident gave me an affinity with Dark magic, however. I’m not too sure if that’s a good thing or bad...
“Ah! Ka – san, he’s coming out!”
Nanashi stepped out of the shadows – how ironic – concealing him and into the ‘blue corner’. Some guy carrying a sword stepped into the red one.
“E-excuse me! I can’t see! I think that’s my brother, Ichiru! ... Could you be a gentleman and let me through, please?”
Oh? Curious, I cocked my head to the right before turning towards the source of the voice. “Ah, Miyuki – san!”
Miyuki turned towards me. Her face lit up with a delighted smile. “Aiko – chan! Konnichiwa!”
“Come and watch with us! It’s okay, right, Ka – san?”
Ka – san nodded with a smile and Miyuki stood next to me with a relieved smile. “Thank goodness! This is my brother’s first festival tournament. I wanted to be here to cheer him on.”
I cocked my head curiously. “Oh? That’s your brother in the red corner? Heh, what a coincidence. My brother is your brother’s opponent!”
Any comment Miyuki might have added was drowned out by the deafening voice of the announcer.
“AAAAND IN THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE FIRST TIME PARTICIPANT, KAORI ICHIRU! A SWORDSMAN OF THE FABLED KAORI TRIBE, WILL HE EMERGE TRIUMPHANT?”
There was applause, cheers and wolf whistles. Down in the arena, Ichiru palmed his face.
“AAAAAAAAND IN THE BLUE CORNER, IT’S THE HEIR OF THE NAKASHIMA CLAN! GIVE IT UP FOR THE ONE, THE ONLY, NAKASHIMA NANASHI!”
I winced and covered my ears. Oww. That was loud. Nanashi appeared to share the same sentiments, as I saw him cast a dirty glance at the announcer’s podium.
“WHO WILL EMERGE VICTORIOUS? LET’S FIND OUT!”
A loud bell rang and the fight began...
Well, it would have begun, if a loud explosion hadn’t decided to detonate right there and then outside the stadium.
“Kyaa!”
I clutched on to Ka – san for support as the explosion rocked the building. Miyuki, however, was keeping her cool and stood firm. “Aiko – chan, I’m going to head out of the building for a while, okay?” she asked calmly. Her hands lingered near her belt. What was she going to do?
“Let me come with you, then! I can help those who got injured! I’ll be fine, right, Ka – san?”
I gave my mother no chance to respond, for I followed Miyuki out of the building immediately. As I ran behind her, I noticed a flash of steel, steel which looked like it was made for the use of daggers.
We exited the arena building, looking around for the source of the explosion. There was a slight breeze and I spied a shadow flitting from view from the corner of my eye. I turned my head and spotted somebody vanishing from sight around a corner. Right after that, an arrow and a volley of bullets followed after the terribly sneaky shadow.
Another explosion.
“AGH! Puri – san, you need to stop firing your wind bullets at my arrows!”
“I'm not doing that, Yu! We’re attacking at the same time!”
A brunette girl wearing a blue hat and the gear of a sniper and a black haired girl wearing a red hat and wielding a gun came into view, chasing desperately after the shadow. Miyuki tensed slightly and I thought I saw her eyes glint. “The infamous Yu and Yunamiko Popuri...? Does that mean...?” Right after muttering that, it was as if she had become a different person, for she took off after the other two girls without another word. I scanned the area to ensure that there were no casualties before following the three of them.
After continuing the chase for quite a while longer, I was beginning to wish that I was one of the faster runners in the Nakashima Clan. Of course, I was part of the ‘intellectual’ ones instead, which meant that my physical abilities weren’t exactly top notch...
Finally, Miyuki and the other two came to a stop, the sniper shouting curses angrily at the top of her voice. They were at the town port – near the sea – and I couldn’t help but wonder why. When I caught up to them, I asked Miyuki for details.
“That guy you saw just now was the master thief Kondou Kazuma. He’s been evading the law for quite some time and now he’s gone and escaped by water!” the sniper erupted.
“Water, huh? Maybe... maybe I can help.”
I stepped forward, shrugging off the looks of disbelief I received. I hadn’t come of age yet, but I still contained the affinity to water deep down within me. I would just have to awaken it prematurely.
I dipped my hand in the water and called out to the power held within my heart.
“Great Spirits of the Water, please listen to my voice! I, Aiko of the Nakashima clan, call upon your power! Stop the villainous Kondou Kazuma in his tracks and return him to the earth!”
A light blue aura started emanating from the hand I kept in the water. The aura continued on through the water, forming a sort of path. Suddenly, there was a burst and water erupted in a geyser. Riding on top of that geyser was one very wet, very angry wanted criminal – Kondou Kazuma.
Delighted, the gunslinger – at least, I thought that was what she was – closed her eyes, muttering something underneath her breath. A gust of wind picked up and blew the criminal to shore, where Miyuki produced a dagger from her belt – surprising me – and held it to his neck, warning him not to move. Then, as she turned to thank me, shadows ate away at my vision and I stumbled backwards, away from the sea water. As I lost consciousness, a voice, eerily familiar and yet so foreign, resonated through my thoughts, the last words I heard before fainting dead away...

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Enjoy!