Rank 4 used to live a somewhat normal life, she lived with her boyfriend and they loved each other a lot, or at least that's what she thought.

One day, her boyfriend took her to one of his friend's house, where she was beaten and held prisoner for several weeks.

At first she was a tool to help the lust of her lover's friends, but the friends got bored and started to take their boredom out on her.

Her bones were shattered, her skin was burned, she was deprived from food and water, unimaginable torture occured for weeks.

No one knew this was happening to Rank 4, but one day someone broke into the house where she was being kept.

The one who broke in was Yutsu, he captured everyone who hurt Rank 4 and did to them what they did to her, he left them mangled and unconscious in the house.

Yutsu saved Rank 4 and polished her broken self into the fine strong woman she's now.

…

Yutsu smiles at Rank 4, the present one. Rank 4 blushes and looks at the floor.

Yutsu: Starting today, you're a skiller, but since you're new, I won't force you to kill if you don't want to… do you have anyone you want to take revenge on?

Rank 4 looks at him, she's angry now.

Rank 4: Yeah, those pieces of shit who fucked me back then. I have to find them and kill them so that they don't harm anyone else.

Yutsu: They're probably in a hospital around the area. Go get your revenge, I'll be waiting here.

…

Rank 4 is sitting down next to 6 other skillers as she watches Yutsu talk to them.

Yutsu: Everyone, I brought you all here for one reason, there's 2 new people with black blood that I sensed.

"Are we going to kill them?" Someone asks.

Yutsu: No, this time we won't. I want you all to go to the locations where you go the most, and let those black blood people find you.

"And what happens next?" A different person asks.

"Fight them, but don't kill them."

...

The darkness fades, Rinka pulls his katana out from Rank 4, blood doesn't come out and no wound is left, Rinka looks uncomfortable, he didn't like watching someone get tortured.

Doa grabs Rank 4 by the neck, she lifts her up and punches her face repeatedly.

Rinka: Hey hold on, don't kill her.

Doa: Do you want to capture her instead?

Rinka: Uh, I want to ask her a couple questions first.

Doa lets Rank 4 go, Rank 4 hits the floor and lays there while Rinka and Doa stare at her.

Rank 4: Questions? If you want me to answer questions at least let us sit down at a table and drink while I answer them, I would prefer that.

Doa looks at Rinka.

Doa: Well?

Rinka: Okay, get up and go, we'll follow you.

Rinka and Doa notice someone walking towards them, Ashi stops in front of them. She's still as nervous as ever.

Ashi: The battle is over, right?

Doa: Yeah.

"Are they really just going to let me stand up? I don't sense any killing intent." Rank 4 thinks as she stares at them.

Rank 4 stands up, she walks towards and into her house, Rinka and Doa behind her. She stands and stares at her living room.

In the middle of the room is a wooden table accompanied by two sofas.

Rank 4: You two can sit anywhere, I'm going to grab waters.

Rinka, Doa and Ashi sit next to each other and wait patiently.

Doa: So what questions are you going to ask?

Rinka: I'm gonna ask questions about the skillers, I wanna know more about them.

Rank 4 returns to the living room and hands Rinka, Doa and Ashi water bottles. Rinka opens the bottle and raises it to his mouth, Doa grabs the bottle and stops him from drinking it.

Doa: Don't drink it, a complete stranger gave it to you.

Rank 4 laughs and takes a seat on the other sofa.

Rank 4: I wouldn't tamper with the drinks… so anyways, what do you want to ask me?

Rinka closes the bottle and sets it on his lap.

Rinka: Tell me everything about the skillers.

Rank 4 looks menacingly at Rinka.

Rank 4: Oh? Everything? Who are you to tell me to do that?

Rinka: Please?

Rank 4 laughs.

Rank 4: You really wanna know?

Rinka: I do.

Rank 4: Then, what do you mean by you want to know everything?

Rinka: My skill allowed me to see your past. I saw your boss telling you that he won't force you to kill, that you should get revenge. What does all of that mean?

Rank 4: Oh, I can tell you, that information isn't important anyways.

Rank 4 moves and lays down on the sofa.

Rank 4: The skillers, I personally divide them into 2 sections, killers and active murderers. The first 7 ranks of the group took revenge against the people who hurt them and haven't killed ever since, the rest are always killing to complete the bosses dream. You've already met the first 4 ranks, and killed 3.

The other 3 emaining skillers and I don't know the boss's dream, but the other ranks above us have been with the boss for a long time so they know what it is. All we know is that it involves killing everyone, luckily the boss doesn't force his dream onto us.

Rinka stares at the floor.

Rinka: Taking revenge? I can understand that, I personally think it's ok to kill the people who hurt you, they're most likely more evil.

Doa stares at Rinka.

Rinka: Doa, I don't want to kill her or capture her, she's not evil, she deserves to be free.

Doa's surprised.

Doa: You just wanna let her go?

Rinka: Yeah, what she told us about skillers is completely true, my void showed me that. If she's not actively killing people I want her to keep her freedom… she was hurt by trash human beings and all she did was clean them up. She killed the evil that was out there and then never did it again. That's good revenge, meant to take out what harmed her, I think that's fine.

Doa: But Sumairu won't let that slide, he'll get mad at us and probably fire me. You really think she should be free?

Rinka: Yeah, back with Rank 1, 2 and 3, I was also able to see their past, they also decided to take revenge and then never kill again. I at least want to spare the skillers who aren't doing anything wrong.

Doa: If that's really what you want, I'm fine with it. But you'll have to do a really good job of convincing Sumairu.

Rinka: Yeah... I'll give it a shot, if I fail I won't try again.... anyways bye Rank 4… we might come back.

Rank 4: Why are you even trying to help me? Aren't I an enemy?

Rinka: Not to me.

Rinka, Doa and Ashi stand up and leave, Rank 4 stares at them surprised.

"They just leave, they don't even ask my name, they don't restrain me?"

"I could just leave and they wouldn't find me." Rank 4 thinks.

Rank 4 stands up and walks up stairs towards her bedroom, she sighs and has a tired expression.

"I'll stay here, I don't feel like leaving."

…

Rinka, Doa and Ashi fade out of a purple ball, they're back in the living room of their apartment. A laundry machine can be seen in the kitchen, while Minaro is just sitting at the couch using his phone, Maya resting her head asleep on his shoulder next to him.

Rinka: Why is there a laundry machine here?

Minaro: I brought it through my rifts so that we could use it.

Rinka looks at Doa.

Doa: I'll go call Sumairu.

Rinka: Okay.

Rinka sits next to Minaro, he stares at Minaro and Maya.

Rinka: Surprised you let Maya rest on you.

Minaro: It doesnt really bother me. She had came to talk to me but since I ignored her, she fell asleep.

Minaro stands up, Maya falls and wakes up abruptly.

Maya: Huh! What's happening!

Minaro walks away and towards his bedroom.

...

A few minutes later, Rinka, Doa and Sumairu are standing in the living room. Minaro and Maya are sitting on the couch and Imma-ite is sitting on the floor.

Rinka and Sumairu stare at each other.

Sumairu: So how did the mission go?

Rinka: It went okay.

Sumairu: Did you kill or capture?

Rinka: Neither.

Sumairu: Neither?

Rinka: I let the skiller stay free, she didn't deserve to die or lose her freedom.

Sumairu: Um? What do you mean she doesn't deserve it?

Rinka: She-

Rinka is cut off by Sumairu.

Sumairu: Hold on… are you gonna try to tell me why a skiller doesn't deserve justice?

Rinka: Yeah?

Sumairu: Oh, then hold on. Let me call up the guardians so you can tell them too.

Rinka look nervous.

Rinka: The guardians? Why?

Sumairu: They care more about that stuff then I do.

"The guardians? Aw shit, I forgot they're the ones who wanted the skillers hunted." He thinks.

Sumairu brings out his phone and starts to call someone which he puts on speaker. A woman answers, her voice is calm and nice.

"Yeah?"

Sumairu: So you know that guy with the black blood I told you about, Rinka? He just came back from an encounter with a skiller and he wants to tell me why he didn't capture or kill her, he believes she didn't deserve it. I want all the guardians to hear what he has to say.

"Well, all of the guardians are here, ready to listen."

Sumairu: Okay, Rinka go ahead and tell them.

Rinka takes a deep breath.

Rinka: Hi…

"Hi."

Rinka: The reason why I didn't kill her is because the skillers are split into 2 sections, the first 7 skillers only killed a couple people to get revenge and never killed again, while the rest of the skillers are actively killing… the skiller I just fought is a part of the first 7.

The skillers were almost killed, so they went back and killed the people who tried to kill them, which I think is ok to do.

A guy starts talking, he has a soft voice but is currently angry.

"Revenge? You think revenge is ok? Killing is not allowed no matter the circumstances."

The woman with the calm and nice voice talks again.

"You always mention how killing is evil no matter the circumstances but you've killed people before."

Laughing can be heard.

Another guy can be heard, his voice is normal and he sounds calm.

"Rinka, how did you even get that info?"

Rinka: A skiller told me and I know they're not lying, my skill allowed me to see their past. I was able to see everything, but I only remembered the parts I considered important.

"Okay, So what do you want us to do or what do you want?"

Rinka: I want the permission to let the skillers free! I want the first 7 skillers to live life normally.

Another guy starts to speak, he sounds enthusiastic.

"How much are you willing to sacrifice to get our permission?"

Rinka thinks about it for a few seconds.

Rinka: Uh, maybe like a piece of my favorite food? I'm not THAT invested into this, I felt bad for those skillers so I wanted to see whether I could do something for them. If you say no then that's the end of this.

"I like how honest you are."

The same soft angry voice from before starts to talk again.

"Say no, let's get this over with, we can send Zizin and Iza to kill those skillers, we ca-"

He's interrupted by the normal and calm sounding guy.

"Rinka, we've been hunting these skillers for a long time now, they always escape and we never get to see them and they always kill in secret. You have black blood, so I'm hoping I can trust you, I really hope I can trust you here We haven't even spoken for that long but, I'll grant you the permission on one last condition.

Rinka: What is it?

"If any of those skillers kill anyone innocent I'll have to have you arrested."

Rinka: I accept.

Internally Rinka was shitting his pants, he doesn't like the idea of having to be arrested.

"Damn! That sucks, I have to put all my trust in those skillers…" He thinks.

…

In a red room, Yutsu writes in his diary, but then he smiles. Eivee, a skiller with dark brown curly hair and dark blue eyes with horizontal stripes in them surrounded by black glasses who happened to be in the room looks at him.

Eivee: Did something good happen?

Yutsu: Yup.

Yutsu closes his diary and puts his pencil down, he stands up.

Yutsu: Rinka, that's the name of one of the people with black blood. He just got in contact with the guardians to tell them to not do anything to the first 7 members of our group.

Eivee: Wait, why?

Yutsu: He's like us, he thinks revenge is ok. The guardians also told him if any of those skillers kill anyone, he'll be arrested.

Eivee laughs a little.

Eivee: I assume this is all according to plan?

Yutsu: You give me too much credit, this has nothing to do with the plan, Rinka has his own priorities and we have ours.

Yutsu opens a door and walks out of the room, Eivee follows him.

Yutsu: As long as Rinka gets stronger I don't care what happens over there, he's dealing with his life while we deal with ours.

Eivee: So the plan is to just go with the flow?

Yutsu: Yeah, no matter what happens over there, Minaro and Rinka will die.

…

"Alright we're hanging up now, have a good day."

Rinka: Thank you! Have a good day as well!

The call ends, Sumairu puts his hand on Rinka's shoulder.

Sumairu: Well, you're free to do whatever you want with those skillers. You better hope those skillers are actually good.

Rinka: Yeah.

…

Defei, a male guardian with puffy and curly black hair and dark pink eyes with squares in them wearing a purple coat and black pants hands a phone to Liz, a female guardian with short black hair wearing a grey beanie, a Doctors coat that isn't fully buttoned showing a blue shirt, and grey pants. Her eyes are grey with some light blue at the bottom.

Liz is the female with the nice voice.

Defei: That was odd… Rinka what an interesting dude.

Defei is the one with the calm and normal voice.

Only the guardians that spoke during the call stayed in the room once the call ended.

Defei looks at a guardian who is staring at him.

Rimin, a male guardian with brown hair in the one side swept style and dark yellow eyes with curved lines in them wearing a dark yellow long sleeve shirt and jeans looks away from Defei once they meet eyes and scoffs.

Rimin is the soft and angry voice.

Rimin: You really just let that guy persuade you huh? He said like 2 things and you accepted him.

Defei: I trust him. Plus he's not lying. From skiller activity, Rank 7 and lower have not been active, deaths happening now couldn't be caused by them.

"I trust him too" says Mausho.

Mausho, a male guardian with curly and puffy black and orange hair wearing a orange button less jacket/short robe above his black shirt, and beige pants. His eyes are black and orange as well.

Mausho: He seems like a good dude.

Mausho is the enthusiastic voice.

Defei: I hope he's a good person.

…

Rinka looks at Sumairu and then at everyone else.

Rinka: I'm tired, so I'm gonna go to my room.

No one says anything as they go do their own things.

Minaro is curious about what just happened, Maya, Imma-Ite and Ashi don't care and Doa's surprised they listened to Rinka especially after mentioning his food.

…

A few hours have gone by, Rinka was lying about going to sleep. He's standing on his bed holding his katana, his grip on it is tight.

"Void Attack 5, Black Strands."

Nothing happens.

"Void Attack 5, Long Blade."

Again nothing happens.

"Why can't I make any more void attacks? Do I have some sort of a limit to how many I can make or am I not good enough to make more yet?" Rinka thinks.

Rinka shakes his katana up and down multiple times. The door to the bedroom opens and Minaro walks in.

Minaro walks and sits down on the bed beside Rinka, Rinka looks at him.

Rinka: Hey.

Minaro: What did you tell the guardians?

Rinka: Oh, that um...You heard it didn't you?

Minaro: I kinda tuned out, I heard some of it though.

Rinka: I told them that the first few skillers aren't bad, so I want them to have freedom. I had to tell the guardians and Sumairu about it because they would question why I didn't do anything to the skiller.

Minaro: So you're sparing some skillers now?

Rinka: Yeah. What about you? Back in the first mission you killed three skillers, all innocent.

Minaro: Weren't they trying to kill us?

Rinka: No, their boss told them to avoid killing us, I don't know why.

Minaro: There was no way I could have known that...Anyways I'm still gonna kill the ones I come across, I want more skills.

Rinka: I can't convince you to stop?

Minaro: Trust me having more skills is going to come in handy later.

Rinka: I guess I'm just gonna have to make sure to find all these skillers before you do, any that I find first you can't kill! Okay?

Minaro: Sure.

Rinka sits down next to Minaro.

Minaro: If your skill lets you see all the past of a skiller, shouldn't you know a lot more about them?

Rinka: Well when I receive so much info at once, I only remember some of it.

Minaro: Wow.

Minaro: Also, what were you doing before I came in here? I saw you shaking your sword like a dumbass.

Rinka: I was trying to do more stuff with my void, but I can't. How have your rifts been treating you?

Minaro: They're actually really useful, I don't have to pay for anything anymore.

Rinka: Dude, you're lucky as fuck.

Minaro lays down on the bed staring at his phone, Rinka stands up and stretches.

...

Now a day later, Minaro, Maya, Bukkaru and Imma-Ite are in a town known as Kuropo, It's time for them to encounter their second skiller, Rank 5.

TO BE CONTINUED...