“Ughhhh, I’m so hungry. I really should have came more prepared.”

Raion, who looked to be in his late teenage years, slowly made his way through the thick forest. His unruly white hair danced in the soft gust of wind that breezed by.

“I think I’m lost hahaha...”

As he walked further into the thicket he came across a girl.

“OH HEY! Do you think you can help me out here?”

“Are you talking to me?”

She had long jet black hair and was wearing a gray sweater with a hoodie. She was carrying a small mini backpack that was in the shape of a kitty.

“Uhhhh, I think it’s just me and you here no?”

She shook her head and pointed at the group of men who were closing in on their location.

“This doesn’t look like something I should be involved in, so I’m going to leave...”

“Wait! Are you just going to leave a girl here by herself???”

“Well you look like you have everything taken care of.”

“You said you needed help right? I’ll help you, if you help me, it’s only fair.”

“...”

“I swear, it’s nothing too bad, just a little misunderstanding with them, just need someone else here with me so they don’t all gang up on me. I’ll handle the talking and you just stand there and look pretty.”

Raion let out a small sigh, and nodded to the agreement. He was already lost for a couple of days now and his hunger limit was reaching its peak, so at this point he’d do anything for some help.

“Alright, it’s a deal.”

“PERFECT!”

She moved toward Raion. The group of men finally arrived at their location. The group consisted of four members. One of the more notable members was a shirtless guy who had white tribal marks on his chest. His hair was white, almost identical to Raion’s but was much longer in length. It reached all the way down to his waist.

“Ayy Neko-chan, why’d you run off? You know there’s no point in trying to get away from us.”

She moved forward slightly, placed her hand on her waist and pointed a finger at him.

“Baison, you know that I held my end of the bargain, now just let me be, I don’t want to deal with the Ox clan anymore. What would he say about this, knowing you were trying overturn his decision.”

“Hey hey now, no need to go bother him with all of this. Let’s just say I’m here to renegotiate the terms and conditions of that contract.”

“There’s nothing to renegotiate here, I’m done. It’s over Baison.”

Baison’s face slowly started getting red hot.

“Well we’ll talk more about this once I bring you back to the clan’s base.”

As he reached for her hand, Raion stepped in and grabbed his wrist.

“Hey, she said she was done.”

Raion stared down Baison.

“Why can’t you just let her go?”

Everyone, besides Raion, took a moment to take in the situation. No one thought to dare lay a hand on Baison. His henchmen were in shock.

“And who is this boy Neko-chan?”

The edges of her mouth curved up a bit, showing a slight grin.

“Someone to deal with you Baison.”

He let out a hearty chuckle.

“Hey kid, I’ll let you off with a warning since you probably got fooled into this by her sweet talk or something, but you definitely don’t want to be messing with the Ox clan, or rather yet, be messing with me.”

Baison went on to free himself from Raion’s grip, but as soon as he tried to pull his wrist away, he couldn’t. Raison’s grip held on tight and kept Baison’s wrist from escaping his grasp.

“Nothing personal here. She promised to help me, if I helped her and as of now I desperately need some help.”

Baison’s face was no longer amused at the situation. As one of the strongest member in the Ox clan, his reputation and pride took a slight hit when failed to free himself.

“You’re dead now kid.”

The three other henchmen that were with Baison quickly came from behind him and lunged towards Raion. Raion quickly let go of Baison’s wrist and fended off the three pronged attack. The first enemy he quickly put away by stepping back and throwing a quick backhand to the enemy’s face. Using the same hand he threw a straight, knocking out the second enemy while simultaneously whipping his other arm around and crushing the bridge of the third enemy’s nose with his elbow.

“Ohhhh. Looks like you do have some skill after all. But the person you’re trying to protect is gone.”

Raion looked around to see that she had disappeared from the scene.

“What did you do to her?”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything...”

Baison gripped at the sides of his stomach while palming his face. He was hunched over. His body was shaking from pure amusement.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA! She left you kid. Played you for a fool!”

Baison slowly regained his composure rising back up straight. He pulled back his hair, running his fingers through them and looked straight at Raion.

“Did you honestly think she was some kind of helpless girl? Such a shame though. You’re gonna die an early death because of her.”

END