The Legacy of Guardians - Kivvora Heroes: Guardians & Destines

TWENTY-NINE

AKIRA COULDN'T REMEMBER THE LAST time since she patrolled Blue Harmony Village. It's been a few days since she and the Guardians trained too. Those rumors about them goofing around, not doing their job, and allowing for a literal demon to take a young girl were spreading fast. The world was losing trust in Guardians, doubting if the Guardians were truly heroes.

Of course we are heroes...

Today, Akira and her friends spent their training time in the gaming room. They haven't mentioned the news in a while, and neither has Master Yuuto. If anything, he'd likely tell Akira to use this as a lesson. But what the hell kind of lesson was this? Let someone lie on Kivvora's only means of defense and use that to strengthen herself?

Akira knew Master Yuuto meant well and only wanted to get her mind off the news, but... there were reminders everywhere. Reminders that the Guardians of Kivvora were not to be trusted. Why train anymore for a world who lost faith in their protectors? Why patrol when others will say awful things? It was a good idea to stay in for some free time. No one would judge Akira and her friends here.

Harumi and Netsuto played video games, shouting and screaming at each other as they fought to take a win. Kazami painted at the table and Umiji leaned against a wall, playing a game on his phone.

Yamiyo was on the window sofa, earbuds in, and eyes shut — swaying and bobbing his head. Akira made her way over and sat beside him. She smiled at the sound of muffled music escaping, recognizing the song.

Akira sighed as she started scrolling through the news feed on her phone. Every post stayed negative about her and the others. As she continued scrolling, a poke on her shoulder made Akira adjust her posture. She turned to Yamiyo, who offered an earbud to her. His eyes hinting her to ignore the news, to turn her phone off. To spend this free time together.

After setting her phone down, Akira put in the earbud and scooted closer to Yamiyo. She did a silly dance with her arms, swaying her body, and nodding her head. Yamiyo chuckled as he stared at her. Akira took a moment, her cheeks burning as she flashed a sheepish smile. Then, Yamiyo imitated her dance, laughing as he did so. Giggling, Akira joined in and danced with him.

They kept this up for some time, before—

Without warning, Master Yuuto opened the door forcefully, sliding it with a slam, and entered the room. Akira took out the ear bud and Yamiyo did the same. Everyone ceased what they were doing, directing their attention towards Master Yuuto.

"Why aren't you all training?" he asked, disappointed. "You can do this after training."

Netsuto shrugged. "We don't need to train anymore," he said. "The world hates us..."

"Netsu's right, so what's the point?" Harumi agreed.

Kazami glanced elsewhere. "It would be a waste of time to do something the world won't appreciate."

"No one likes us anymore," said Umiji.

Master Yuuto looked at Akira and Yamiyo, pleading that at least one of them would side with him. But Akira couldn't. Her friends were right. Kivvora hated them. There wasn't used for training anymore. No use for fighting.

"Kazami has a point, Master." Akira said, frowning. "We'll just be wasting energy defending people who hate us."

Yamiyo shrugged. "It's probably for the best, you know? We wouldn't be a problem if we stayed here."

"Are you listening to yourselves? This is no way a Guardian should behave, which brings me to my reasonings for this conversation." Master Yuuto said.

"Come on, we faced Lord Raiden twice already and survived... and saved Harumi. And all of Kivvora sees us as the villains." Netsuto said, leaning back in his seat, crossing one leg over the other.

Master Yuuto shook his head, showing his disapproval. "You six aren't' nearly as ready to take on the tasks your parents did." He said. "You haven't even Evolved yet."

Akira angled her head to the side. "Evolve?" she paused. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "You have to unlock the powers within your heart. You all haven't found what it truly means to be a Guardian."

The room went silent.

Netsuto snickered. "What's that thing you always say? 'When the time is right.' We'll get it done. No sweat Master Y."

Harumi giggled from beside him and resumed their game.

Moments later, an alert chimed through all their phones. Akira looked over at Yamiyo's screen. The message came from Rotasu — the royal city. The Guardians were needed there right away. Akira's eyes widened.

But why?

Master Yuuto groaned in annoyance.

Akira and the others scrambled around the room, then rushed out to prepare for their trip to Rotasu. The message mentioned something about a threat. Something strange was going on, and they needed all the Core Guardians there to protect the city.

Akira bit her lip as fear pulsed through her.

Maybe they should've trained instead of goofing around with free time...