Project Nodachi

what's done in the dark

*Nodachi's POV*

I finally felt better. Running through the forest with Zero had my heart beating just enough to bring me to life again. The weird thing was, after I was attacked by the crazy brown haired girl casually walking next to me, I felt even better. Before all of this I only fought to be strong, I never enjoyed random fights to the death let alone running like some animal. I ran my hand through my long black hair, picking twigs and other miscellaneous things out of it, it was really the only thing about me that wasn't changing. Even my formerly creamy brown hands were covered in mud and foreign secretions. Kaori was next to me, holding them anyway.

"Ew. Pakuyo-san! When do you think we'll see a shower?" I yelled up to him. He didn't even hear me, he was too busy gawking in his disgusting bromance ahead of us.

"Don't worry, you'll get your shower your majesty." The girl he called Laney said condescendingly.

"Do you wanna fight again?" I said flatly. "I can't say it wasn't fun."

"Oh?" She said. "Is her highness feeling feisty since I interrupted her little make out session?"

My face grew hot. Luckily Zero was flying above us as he always did, out of earshot. My face grew even hotter as I remember his annoying super hearing, hopefully he just wasn't listening.

"We weren't making out." I semi-whispered. "And why are you calling me all of this royal BS?"

She let out a chuckle before she grew serious again.

"You must already know how famous you are amongst degenerates like us. Your father was a legend." She said.

"Does everyone know now? Well, I don't even know him. Pakuyo-san decided age sixteen was the right time for me to find out." I said, rolling my eyes.

She gazed at me for a while before turning forward again.

"Of course everyone knows. That mark of yours isn't something that can be swept under the rug. Everyone's gonna want a piece of you, just like I did. But way less friendly." She said.

"You call that friendly!?" I exclaimed, rubbing the spot on my abdomen where she had hit me.

"Don't be a wuss." She said. "If I was that silver guy I wouldn't have told you either, you don't seem like the type that does well with secrets."

I decided to take what she said into account, ignoring my initial angry impulse.

"So who are you guys anyway?" I asked her, motioning to her three companions walking ahead of us. One of them must have heard me, causing him to turn around swiftly and remove the hood that was covering his head. Laney let out a loud sigh.

"Here we go." She said.

"Who are we?" He said arrogantly. He was older than me but still fairly young, with shaggy black hair and green eyes. I could just tell he was the douchebag type by the way he spoke.

"We're the wall that sits between evil and society, the sole group of skilled assailants that strike fear in Tuzo's little heart." He said.

I looked over at Laney for an explanation for his weird behavior, but she just shrugged and looked away.

"We're the titanic army of rebels, Reason!" He continued to speak loudly to me. "And that is our leader, the craftsman that built the shield that is us, our Voice of Reason!"

He motioned to the boulder guy in the camo outfit that Pakuyo was cackling away with. The other hooded guy turned around and finally revealed an identical appearance, down to the acne. I looked above at Zero as I noticed the unique character trait they shared, a face that seemed incomplete with his eyes hidden behind his eyelids. I looked over at Laney for yet another explanation, she had one this time but not before executing a perfect eye roll.