Chapter 3: Background
"Taro! Are you okay? What happened here?"
As I opened my eyes, Nakano's worried face obscured my vision.
"I don't know" I mumbled, asking myself the same questions.
I suddenly recalled some of the recent events and almost puked. Nakano's twinkling eyes helped me get a grip on myself.
"Some sort of monster—no, a demon appeared through a portal and tried to attack me, but then a person covered in armor saved me."
I realized the absurdness of what just left my mouth. As if she's going to believe that; she probably thinks I'm crazy. Wait, considering all the things happening to me, I might be crazy.
"So, you've met Ryuuji, huh?" She pondered for a moment and then reached out to me.
"Nevermind him, you said there was a portal here?" She asked as I took her hand and looked at the wall where I previously spotted the mysterious portal. There was not a trace of it left.
"Yeah, that's what it looked like… wait, you know the guy who saved me?" I asked while I picked myself up. Why wasn't she surprised by anything I just said?
"His name is Ryuuji Matsumoto and he's one of us, his guardian class is Warden," she sighed, then continued in a softer tone. "More importantly, a portal appearing in a city? So, it's really true that things are getting worse."
"Wait a second," I interrupted "You're going too fast for me. One of us? Guardian class?" I was only getting more confused now.
"Come, I'll explain on our way home." I followed her lead and listened closely.
"Okay so, what you saw before I arrived was a portal to the demon realm." She explained as I remembered thinking that the day couldn't get any weirder.
"The reason you can see the demons and portals is that you're a guardian like me and Ryuuji. Basically, us guardians fight the demons in order to protect this world." She turned her head to me and smiled. "Pretty cool, right?"
"Listen, I'm not a guardian, I'm just a normal high-schooler; you're saying I'm supposed to fight those terrifying demons?" I looked at her in denial.
"You are a guardian; that's an indisputable fact. Your powers were sealed, but it appears that the seal was broken recently. You know… you're like the protagonist of a boy's manga." She grinned with excitement.
"I'll leave the details of your powers for Ryuuji to explain, he knows more than I do."
My powers were unsealed? Was it that incident in school? Why today? More and more questions kept appearing in my head.
"Anyway, guardians have classes which determine their abilities. I am a Summoner; you are a Ranger, and Ryuuji is a Warden. There are also 2 other guardians who you will soon meet, Brawler and Assassin." She finished her sentence and came to a stop.
"My house is this way. Go talk to Ryuuji and he will clarify the rest to you. See you at school tomorrow." She hurried away with a grin on her face.
"How am I supposed to talk to him If I don't know where he is?" I asked with confusion clearly displayed on my face.
Nakano just laughed and kept walking.
"What was that about?" I thought to myself.
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Sweet, so now I'm a guardian and I'm expected to fight those menacing demons. For some reason, I've got a feeling that things will only get worse from here on. No, I probably shouldn't think this way, it's my pessimism kicking in again. I've had unpleasant experiences of my thoughts becoming reality recently.
Grr
My stomach growled, I haven't eaten since lunch so I'm seriously starved. I looked at my watch; it has been over an hour since I left school. Kyoko probably finished cooking dinner already, I quickened my pace and prayed for some delicious stew.
I entered my house, took off my shoes, and as I reached the living room I was greeted by my little sister.
"Happy birthday, brother!" She shouted and leaped onto me.
I completely forgot today's date, it's the 15th of January, my 18th birthday.
"Get off Kyoko, you're heavy" I demanded as she hung from my neck.
"Hey! I'm as light as a feather and you shouldn't say that to a girl." She declared as she jumped off me.
"Anyway, come look, I baked you a cake." She took my hand and led me to the kitchen.
On the table, a single, black cupcake stood on top of a plate. Kyoko went over to the cupcake, lit the candle on top of it, and brought the plate over to me. She was quite clearly proud of her creation as she smiled at me and waited for me to blow the candle out.
"Thanks, aha..." I mumbled as I examined the poor cupcake.
"Are you sure it's edible?"
"Haha, you're so funny Taro, now hurry up and try it, I want to know if you like it or not."
Kyoko's eyes brimmed with expectation.
With no wish coming to mind, I extinguished the candle and retrieved it from the burnt cupcake. I reluctantly picked the cupcake up and took a small bite in order to minimize the damage to my body. Kyoko gleefully looked at me with her sparkling eyes and awaited my opinion.
"Wow... it's great, Kyoko." I lied as I gulped the thing down.
"I'm glad you like it; I was worried I left it in the oven too long, but I guess not."
"Baking must be really difficult; your cooking is fantastic though. Yeah, I think you should stick to cooking." I included a compliment in hopes of softening the blow. Her unchanged grin told me she didn't take the hint, probably for the better.
"Oh yeah, speaking of cooking. Since it's your birthday today, I prepared your favorite food, stew."
Finally, some good news. I expressed my gratitude to Kyoko, and we ate dinner.
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"That was delicious," I whispered to myself as I walked up the stairs and headed to my bedroom.
As I opened the door, a breeze of chilly wind hit me. On my bed, a strange man laid leisurely. With his right hand, he was supporting his temple and in his left hand, he held one of my books. His long black hair reflected the moonlight from the open window and funneled into a messy ponytail. A short stubble covered his chin and beneath, a flowery pink yukata enveloped his slim body; he appeared to be in his late 20s.
Great. It seems like today is far from over.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my room?" Irritated, I confronted the stranger.
"Oh, you're finally here, I hav—"
"Don't give me the 'I have been expecting you' crap, you're in my room and I asked you a damn question…" I burst out, "sorry, I'm a bit exhausted after today. For now, may I ask you to get off my bed?"
The man lifted his eyebrows, clearly surprised by my display. He got off the bed and instead sat on my desk, the book still in his hand. Wait, why the hell am I even apologizing to this guy? I fell on the empty bed and eyed the stranger again. He was now completely entranced by the book.
"So, can you explain yourself now?" I sighed.
"..."
"Hey, this book is pretty goo—"
"Listen now, we aren't in a manga, can you just answer my questions?" I interrupted his attempt at becoming a cool and mysterious character.
He lifted his eyes off the book and stared at me for a quick second. Sharply, he clutched the book in his left hand and shut it tight. He sighed and looked at the gaping window behind me.
"The name's Ryuuji, I've let myself in through the window, I'm here to leave you a message and I don't like you." He blurted out.
Nakano knew he would be here… she could've told me.
"Does that answer all of your questions?"
"A message? From who?" I asked in response.
"Rejoice! It's from the person closest and yet furthest away from your heart."
"I believe I already told you to cut it out with the puzzling talk."
"Basically, it's from your beloved father."
"My beloved father? I don't believe we're thinking of the same person. My father left me and my family when I was too young to remember, he might as well be dead."
"Ho, I see you've got a rather cold opinion of Arakan, but I can't blame you for it. In your eyes, he abandoned his wife and children, thus leading to your mother's death."
I can't believe that asshole has been alive all this whole time. As Ryuuji said, mom struggled with money to raise me and my sister by herself; she fell ill and couldn't afford medical bills. Almost two years pass and suddenly my father has a message for me?
"What's the message? Did he miss his children or something?"
Ryuuji straightened his posture and massaged his throat.
"I doubt you want to see me, but if you want answers to your questions, I'll be waiting on the other side, Ohta." He cleared his strained throat after trying to impersonate my father.
"So that's it? Not even an apology, just a 'come see me'?" I muttered.
Not like an apology would have changed anything, but was this seriously it? Ryuuji silently placed the book he was holding back on the shelf.
"How do you know my father?" I asked.
"Arakan is sort of like my boss, you see. I didn't come here to babysit you of my own volition."
"So? Are you finished with your business here? Also, I would rather you don't enter through my window again."
"Well, I was expecting to answer the countless questions which you should be storing up inside of your head right about now. I passed on the message though, so my work here is technically done."
"Whatever you tell me now, I don't have the mental capacity to store anyway," I said while closing my eyes, then continued. "Okay so, could you please take your leave then? And I'm sorry for my tone before, I don't mean to take out my anger for my father on others…"
"Haha, you're one interesting fellow, I'm expecting a lot from you!"
"..."
"Why are you still here?"
"...Could you move so that I can climb through the window? I don't want to run into your sister downstairs…"
Seriously? I can't believe this guy…
I moved out of the way; Ryuuji stepped on the bed and awkwardly leaped out through the window.
Sleep... I need a good night's sleep to process today's events.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone