“Rei I know you’re there.” Katsumi says opening her eyes.

  “My precious locket, it’s been over four centuries since we st saw each other. I sought you out so I could make sure you pay for your transgression!” Rei barks drawing his sword.

  Rei’s sword bde is charcoal gray, wide, thick and tall. The grip has gray and white diamond symbols with a bck cross guard.

  “Rei, my dearest, you can’t continue living in the past. You must bring yourself emotionally and mentally into the present. Living in the past will do you nothing but harm.” Katsumi says with a tinge of sadness now standing on the tree branch.

  “Shut your hypocritical mouth! You have no room to talk!”

  Katsumi jumps down onto the forest floor.

  “You will die here and now!” Rei shouts charging towards her.

  Katsumi’s sword appears in her right hand and she charges towards him. When their swords csh different lightning colors seep out from their weapons. Light purple surrounds Katsumi’s sword while dark red and bck radiates from Rei’s.

  “You are nothing more than a fraud. You pretend to be this spiritual saint when deep down you’re nothing more than walking glutton yearning for war and bloodshed.”

  Katsumi’s facial expression remains unchanged.

  “Don’t confuse me with yourself. You’re the one that’s committed needless and countless atrocities these past four centuries. We’re no longer in the Sengoku era Rei we’re in the twentieth century and you need to start acting like it!”

  Rei grits his teeth.

  “Shut up!”

  They are separated by the power of their bdes.

  Katsumi rebounds and sends Rei flying into a tree causing a domino effect.

  “Stop this madness Rei, you know I’m telling the truth. Lying to yourself will not help. You need to learn to authentically live in your truth and accept it.”

  “You don’t know a damn thing about me and you never cared to!” Rei retorts charging back with tears brimming his eyes.

  “Kitsune Ball!”

  A red electrical kitsune appears at the top of his sword.

  Katsumi jumps back several feet. She suddenly feels water soaking the bottom of her furisode. She looks back and immediately a bow and arrow appears in her right hand. She fires at Mizu causing her to freeze in pce.

  “Try anything else and you will be dismembered.” Katsumi says sharply before giving her attention back to Rei.

  He has his sword pointed in Katsumi’s direction. When the bst leaves his sword Katsumi charges toward it. She crosses arms over her chest in the form of an X. When the smoke clears Katsumi is lying on the ground. The top half of her furisode is torn off exposing her bosom.

  Rei ughs victoriously.

  “Of course she didn’t truly believe she would stand a chance against the great demon Rei did she?” Rei asks rhetorically with arrogance.

  Moments ter Harmene appears and coils himself around Katsumi and lifts her into the air.

  “I don’t think so!” Rei says jumping into air.

  Harmene opens his mouth and fires a rge blue bst towards Rei. Before the bst can touch him a barrier appears thwarting Harmene’s bst. When the light disappears he and Katsumi are gone.

  “Damn it!”

  “What will we do now Master?” Totsu Joo asks walking over to him.

  “I will kill her myself when the time is right. For now I’m refocusing on my gemstones.” Rei says before looking at Mizu.

  He smiles amused walking toward her.

  “Look at you finally showing some unabashed gumption.”

  Mizu averts her eyes.

  “I only did it because I knew there would be dire consequences if I hesitated.”

  “Mizu I am genuinely offended. You always have options.”

  Mizu chuckles.

  “Why are you standing here lying through your teeth when you, Totsu Joo and I know there’s never a reward when it comes to you. You’re all about yourself and your goals. The only difference is your main goal is at our expense!”

  Totsu Joo then steps forward.

  “How dare you disrespect our Master so rudely! You will be penalized!”

  Rei raises his hand.

  “No need for retribution Totsu Joo. Rebellion is who Mizu is so why not let her be that. As long as she doesn’t try to deflect again her defiance is welcome. Now let’s return to the castle.”

  The trio then leaves the forest.

  Yukanna is still standing at the door looking at the person across from her. The person in question is female. She has fair skin with short purple hair that is currently unkempt. Her eyebrows are definitively arched. She stands at five feet seven inches with a pear shape. She’s wearing a tattered white t-shirt that exposes her bck brassiere, torn blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

  “Sweetheart it’s been five long years. Come and give your mother a hug.” the woman sobs with open arms.

  “Father!”

  A few moments ter Hiro is standing beside her.

  “Hiro my darling, how have you and my daughter been?”

  “Aki, the police said you fell from a twenty-story building. How are you still alive?”

  “This must be God’s doing. When I awoke I was on a deserted isnd. I was kept prisoner there for five years. I escaped only because someone bought the isnd and turned it into a resort.”

  Hiro exhales heavily and looks over at Yukanna and pces his hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s okay Yu, I will take care of this. You can return to the dining room.” Hiro reassures squeezing it.

  “Yes sir.” Yukanna says before walking away.

  “You’re having dinner right now?! Lord am I famished!” Aki says attempting to walk in.

  Hiro instantly steps into her path.

  “You’ve been gone for five years and were told you were dead. Then five years ter you unexpectedly show up and everything is supposed to return to normal? This is going to take some time getting acclimated to.”

  Aki nods her head understandingly.

  “I know my presence is unsettling and maybe even upsetting but it truly is me and I’ve missed my family terribly. Please let me expin everything.”

  Hiro sighs stepping aside and they go to the living room where Aki sits on the couch.

  “Still the same as I remember.” Aki says gncing around as Hiro sits across from her.

  “Do you remember anything prior to your kidnapping?”

  “I remember you reaching billionaire status in June of 1957 and us marrying on New Year’s Day in 1960 right here in Violetta. I remember Yukanna being born eight years ter on January 28, 1968, here in Violetta. I remember training her in hand-to-hand combat and kickboxing. I vividly remember you teaching her about cars. I know Yukanna likes to write and draw comics and is scared to enter contests due to the fear of being ridiculed. That’s just a few intimate things about you and Yukanna.”

  Hiro looks at her speechless.

  “What? You thought I would forget everything about my family even though I was isoted? You should know me better than that Hiro.” Aki says offended crossing her arms.

  “It’s not that, it’s just I’m surprised you’re not feral.” Hiro says observing her.

  “I learned how to hunt and gather very quickly during my first month.” Aki expins unfolding her arms.

  “I see. Well, I’m going to go and prepare you a pte. You can take any of the guestrooms you want. After you were pronounced dead I became a widow, and since then I’ve become accustomed to it. However I’d like to slowly work our way back into our former retionship.” Hiro says standing up.

  “I understand and I want to get back to how things were before too. I’m going to go take a much-needed shower.” Aki says before leaving.

  “Okay I’ll see you ter.” Hiro says before going to the dining room.

  Ai is lying in her queen size canopy bed on her left side clutching a teddy bear. She is wearing pink silk pajamas with white horses on them. The walls are pink with white baseboards. Up against the wall is her bed which is decorated in a white and pink comforter with a pink mattress sheet. The pillows are solid white and pink. On the other side of the bedroom is a white desk with a pink chair, her walk-in closet, a white dresser with a heart-shaped mirror and a white body mirror with a small tiara on top. On both sides of her bed are two white nightstands with red mps and white mpshades.

  On the right wall is a horizontal window that’s decorated with a white curtain and red hearts. Soon a knock comes on her bedroom door.

  “Darling, it’s your father. Dinner is ready.” Oriba says warmly.

  Ai sits upright and goes to the door and opens it.

  Oriba is thirty-five years old with short brown hair that styled in a wavy mop cut. He has pale skin and hazel eyes. He is five foot nine inches with a lean build. He is wearing a white t-shirt, bck pajama pants and white slippers.

  “Hi Daddy, I’ll coming down right now.” Ai says before returning her teddy bar to the center of her bed.

  When they get to the dining room Vergil and their mother Famke are sitting at the table. Famke is also thirty-five years old. She has fair skin with shoulder length brown hair that’s styled in yered feathers with light blue eyes. She’s wearing a burgundy silk nightgown and bck slippers. Ai and Oriba take their seats diagonal to each other.

  Oriba cooked broccoli and chicken Alfredo, yeast rolls. Inside a gss pitcher is lemonade.

  “Good evening Mother, how was your day?” Ai asks grabbing her fork.

  “Vergil sweetheart how was your day at school?” Famke asks sweetly.

  Oriba gres at his wife.

  “Famke your daughter asked you how your day was!” Oriba scolds.

  Famke exhales heavily rolling her eyes before looking over at her daughter.

  “It was boring. I made sure that all of our customers were happy.” Famke says dryly.

  “Really? That’s how you’re going to talk to your daughter?!”

  “She’s a damn freak!”

  Oriba sms his fist down on the table and tears escape Ai’s eyes.

  “Stop this talk right now Famke! You know that just as well as I that Ai was born different.” Oriba shouts before looking at Ai softly.

  “Born different?! She almost killed me from the inside out during her delivery! Have you forgotten that every day I suffered morning sickness and severe rain. Then when I was delivering her the lights flickered on and off! Say it Oriba, she’s a damn freak of nature!” Famke barks disgustedly looking Ai in her eyes.

  Vergil gets up and runs out the front door smming the door in his wake.

  “You see what you’ve done to your brother Ai?! You’ve made him feel unworthy once again!” Famke chastises before going after Vergil.

  Ai looks down at the table sobbing softly looking down at the table clenching her fists. Oriba reaches over and touches Ai’s left hand squeezing it.

  “She told me that since the very day he was born. What does she mean when she says that Daddy?” Ai asks between sobs looking up into his eyes.

  “I have to find the right way to tell you sweetheart.”

  Ai curls her lips nodding her head.

  “I’ve been hearing this since I was three years old Daddy. Can I please get an expnation for her vitriol for me? No disrespect but I do believe I’m owed that since I am her daughter.” Ai says as tears stream down her face.

  “I will sweetheart, you have my word.” Oriba says crossing his heart making Ai smile and wipe her eyes.

  Outside on the front porch Vergil is sitting on a brown wooden chair next to Famke.

  “What makes her so special?” Vergil asks jealously.

  “She’s nothing special, she’s just your sister.”

  “But Father said-”

  Famke raises her hand silencing her son.

  “Never mind what your father said. He’s just getting older so his mouth speaks before his brain can process. Now come on back inside, I don’t want our food to get cold.”

  Vergil smiles and they head back inside.

  The Fujimori residence is quiet except for the kitchen. The interior walls of the home are white and the flooring is hardwood. The living room is decorated in modern furniture. The couch, love-seat and recliner are dark gray cotton. The oval mahogany coffee table is standing on top of a white carpet. Facing the furniture is an oak wood big screen television. Chishiki and his paternal uncle Ras Fujimori is in the dining room sitting across from each other. The dining room table set is made of pink ivory wood.

  Ras is thirty-nine years old. He has pale skin with short bck hair that’s slicked back and cobalt blue eyes. He is wearing a blue gray jumpsuit with a white t-shirt underneath and bck leather work boots. Chishiki had prepared meatloaf, macaroni and cheese homegrown green beans and cornbread.

  “How was your first day of school Chishiki?” Ras asks enthusiastically before pcing some meatloaf in his mouth.

  “It was productive as I like it to be and it was also unexpected. I had made some acquaintances and by seventh period three of the five people I met I was pying basketball with. We made great teammates.” Chishiki expins while pushing his gsses onto his nose.

  “I’m gd you’re being more social Chishiki. Sometimes acquaintanceship can morph into friendship and possibly lifelong camaraderie.”

  Chishiki opens his eyes.

  “I like this group of people but I wouldn’t dare categorize them as friends, especially at this stage. We haven’t endured any hardships together or have been in situations where we had to depend on each other.”

  Ras raises his hands in a surrendering fashion.

  “Hey I’m just saying that I was happy seeing you slowly return to your former self. Speaking of your former self, why did you change your name?”

  An uncomfortable silence falls over the room.

  “I’d rather not relive the past through verbal memory. I like the person that I am today. Who I was before is not someone God is proud of nor will he ever be.” Chishiki says philosophically opening his eyes.

  “Well since we’re being honest Chishiki Muchi is not your birth name. I want to call you by your birth name before I die.”

  Chishiki covers his pte and stands up.

  “That person you speak of is deceased and I have no intention of resurrecting him.”

  Chishiki says coldly before grabbing his gss and pte and walking to the kitchen.

  Ras sighs heavily and resumes eating his dinner.

  Jodan lives in a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on the first floor with his father Fretcher Yamaguchi. The building they live in is peach brick and the front doors are white with six panels and gold doorknobs. The interior consists of white walls, white baseboards, and beige carpets. Upon entering the unit is the living room which is furnished in six-year-old furniture. The couch is white leather and the love-seat is dark gray cotton and the gss coffee table is covered in magazines, cigarettes, and alcohol bottles. The kitchen has white counter tops and wood cabinets. The refrigerator and stove are all-white and the sink faucet is center set style.

  Jodan is in the kitchen washing dishes when his father comes and leans against the entryway. In his right hand is a beer bottle. He is half-naked with only a pair of jeans on his lower body. Fretcher is thirty-five years old with fair skin, a sunken face a slight beer belly. He has green eyes that are devoid of life. His neck length blonde hair is unkempt.

  “I made some new friends at school today Dad.” Jodan says shakily avoiding his father’s gaze.

  “I don’t give a damn about what goes on in your life. You’re the reason why I’m alone and struggling!” Fretcher shouts removing himself from the wall.

  He grabs an empty beer bottle and throws it at the countertop near Jodan. Upon shattering two shards cut Jodan on his left cheek.

  “Clean this damn mess up!” Fretcher shouts before leaving.

  Jodan cries while resuming to wash the dishes.

  Lotus is in her bedroom sitting in a brown leather chair at her mahogany work desk. Her walls are painted forest green with white baseboards. Hanging on the walls are pictures of her and her parents, pnts, horses, Alpha mating pairs and lionesses. Up against the back wall is a cherry wood full size sleigh bed. It is decorated with a purple comforter with blue raindrops. The pillows are solid white and purple. On both sides of the bed are cherry wood nightstands. Both nightstands have light gray gss mps with white mpshades. On the right nightstand is a purple analog clock.

  Across from the desk is a walk-in closet, a chocote brown dresser with a horizontal mirror and a matching body mirror.

  “Will my tutoring be enough to help Kiseki pass Algebra this semester? I don’t even know if I’m good enough to be friend let alone his tutor.” Lotus says worriedly when a knock comes on her door.

  “Come in.”

  The door opens revealing her maternal aunt Daijina Hana. Daijina is thirty-three years old with pale skin and shoulder length brown hair that’s styled in a Chinese bang. She stands at five feet six inches with an hourgss figure. She is currently wearing a orange silk robe and is barefoot. In her right hand is a cigarette.

  “Hey Lotus, I have some pizza downstairs if you want it.”

  Lotus smiles.

  “Okay, thank you Aunt Daijina I’ll be down soon.”

  Daijina smiles before closing the door.

  Lotus’s smile dissolves and she turns around sighing heavily.

  “I don’t know how to cook. I wonder if Kiseki or the others can or would help me.” Lotus says ying her head on her desk.

  “I’m so hopeless. Aunt Daijina is sweet and caring but she’s not Mom or Dad. I wish you two were here.” Lotus sobs quietly.

  Rika and Suto are standing in the lobby of the megachurch. Rika is looking around with her right crossed over the other. Her right hand is resting on her hip. The lobby extends greatly from east to west. At both ends of the lobby are restrooms. Straight ahead is the sanctuary. To the left is a gift shop that’s filled with bibles, jackets, and other religious items. The flooring is burgundy carpet with gray diamonds that are connected.

  “I’m going to the pastor’s office. When I find him your tattoo will light up. If you come across his path before I do subdue him and bring him to me.” Rika says looking at Suto who’s grinning.

  “Will do.” Suto says happily before they separate.

  Rika walks to the sanctuary while Suto heads east.

  Up in northern Misaki-Owens at a luxury hotel on the top floor a man and woman are inside a suite coputing. They are in a king size bed with a bck suede headboard. The woman has olive skin with long bck wavy hair, an hourgss shape and green eyes. She is lying on her back with the male inside her hungry and succulent womanhood thrusting away. The male has pale skin with neck length reddish-orange hair that’s styled in a parted comb over.

  The woman has her nails digging into his brawny yet muscur back. The male has his forearms buried underneath hers with his face buried between her neck and shoulder. He’s administering powerful thrusts to her clitoris.

  “Ah right there, that’s the spot baby!” the woman moans while digging her nails deeper into his back.

  Kaen removes his head from its current position and captures her lips chastely. She moans into the kiss before sliding his tongue inside. The two battle for dominance momentarily before Kaen wins. When they part for air they gaze into each other’s eyes. Kaen smirks at her before removing himself from her and licking his way down to her vagina.

  “What would you like me to do?” Kaen asks.

  “I want you to own my body!”

  “I can do that.”

  Kaen inserts his tongue inside of her moist womanhood and the woman elicits a shaky moan. Kaen stops cunnilingus and looks up at her smirking.

  Moments ter the woman falls unconscious. Kaen gets up and goes and takes a shower. When he comes out forty-five minutes ter he’s wrapped in a towel dripping wet. He goes and retrieves an outfit from the closet and returns to the bathroom. Twenty minutes ter he comes out dressed in a white suit, a red button-down shirt, and red dress shoes. His hair is now styled in a parted comb over. He looks at the bed shaking his head before taking the woman into the bathroom for a shower. When he finishes he wraps her inside a sleeping bag and removes the bed linen and repces it. He and the woman are then engulfed by fmes.

  It’s six o’clock the following morning and Rika is sitting on the first pew looking at the pulpit. The sun is shining its light into the sanctuary. The room seats fifteen hundred people. The pews are white cotton with a pinewood trim. The stage houses a gray pulpit, a three-section choir stand and a baptismal room. Rika smiles chuckling before heading east through some double exit doors. She heads west down a hallway.

  When she reaches the st door she enters and turns on the light. She takes a moment to look around.

  “Well I see he hasn’t changed since his early days.”

  The walls are dark brown and floor to ceiling. Hanging on the walls are certificates and pictures of different individuals. In the middle of the office are two visitor chairs that have pinewood armrests and plum colored leather cushions. Across from the chairs is a rectangur mahogany desk with cabriole legs. On top of the desk are a gold goose-neck mp, a utensil cup and bck desk telephone.

  In the far-right corner is a mani-colored file cabinet with three drawers that have metal pullers. Rika goes and sits behind the desk.

  She extends her right finger toward the light switch and turns it off.

  “Now it’s time for the waiting game to begin.” Rika says folding her arms and crossing her left leg.

  Over in the unoccupied territory of West Misaki-Owens mountains inside a cave Katsumi is resting. Harmene has a barrier erected to mask their location. Harmene is observing Katsumi closely when his eyes turn purple. Seconds ter the upper portion of Katsumi’s furisode is repaired. Moments ter Katsumi opens her eyes.

  “Rei.” Katsumi moans groggily as tears begin streaming down her face.