Cross Worlds (Hiatus)

Chapter 12-1: "Dark Shroud" (Side- Fantasy)

"I'm just going out for a late night walk. I need to tire myself out a little so I can go to sleep." I answer Remi and Jira, keeping my poker face as straight as possible.

"Huh? Did Yoshitabi's lesson not tire you out enough?" Jira slightly tilts her head and narrows her eyes in suspicion.

"Nope. Sure I'm a little worn out, but basic sparring isn't gonna tire me out entirely." I glance at the ground for a split second. "Please just stay in the ground..." I think to myself as Jira speaks once more.

"Damn! You must be getting so much better then! I remember when you wouldn't hang out with us after your lesson the other week because of how tired you were." She pouts, crossing her arms.

"It was only my second lesson, so of course I would've been too worn out to do anything else afterwards..." I'm happy to see that my endurance has gone up quite a bit. It's going to help me a lot in this fight I'm sure. "Anyways, I should go if I wanna be back in time to sleep."

I try to walk past them, but Remi jumps up with a bright smile on her face. "We'll come with you then! Since you're not tired, we can hang out a little more."

"Hey, that's a great idea! Come on, let's go Riku!" Jira reaches out to grab my arm, but I pull away.

"N-No!" They both step back and give me confused expressions as I quietly shout. I need to calm down before I freak them out. I take a deep breath and look them both in the eyes. "I'm not looking down on you two when I say this, but it's very dangerous out there at night. Who knows what might happen if some thug sees a scrawny looking guy like me walking with two beautiful women like you. I can't protect you if something happens..." I avert my gaze. "I'm not strong enough yet."

"What? We can take care of ourselves!" Jira grumbles.

"No, Jira. He's...he's right. If some guy were to jump us..." Remi mutters and Jira grows a bit pale, shivering as well. Remi looks down and her bangs cover her eyes. "You're right, Riku. I'm sorry if we bug you too much and don't give you enough time to yourself... You have every right to say no to hanging out with us...especially in a situation like this." She looks up at me with a soft smile. "Just let us know if we're ever getting too annoying for you to handle, okay? We'll back off."

I frown and clench my fists. "I hang out with you because I want to, not because you force me to or because it's out of pity. I like the both of you. You're my friends and I'm always willing to spend time with you both. I look forward to it in fact." I walk past them and the shadow follows, not stopping, but it does go around the two girls. "That's why I don't want anything to happen to you two. Until I know I can protect you both, then please, just stay safe."

I don't hear them respond before I walk out. However, after only a few steps away from the entrance, I hear a shout. "I hope you're ready to hang out all day tomorrow again! We'll both see you then, Riku!" Remi shouts from the entrance of the building and it makes my eyes go wide. Never once has Remi ever raised her voice. Seeing her's and Jira's bright smiles as they wave at me...it fills me with the determination to return tonight.

I return their smiles and waves with my own light smile and then continue walking, waving without looking back. "I'm not going to lose to you, whoever you are." I glance at my shadow that the young man is hiding inside of before continuing on my path.

After only a few minutes, I'm in the forest I train my magic in. "Alright, we're here." The literal second I finish speaking, the guy jumps out of my shadow and leaps at me. "I fuckin called it!" I turn around and put up a shield of light. The katana he's now wielding bounces off of the square I've created, and he's no longer covering himself in darkness. His eyes are a faded purple color, and his hair is dark grey; slightly messy, but nothing too special. He's pale skinned, but I can't make out anything about his figure from the layers of clothing he's wearing. I can't even fully see his face, just his eyes, the rest hidden by a black face mask. He also wears a hood and fingerless black gloves. "Could this guy be any more emo..? Geez... Thank god his bangs aren't covering one of his eyes..."