(Fuyuki’s POV)

I woke up with the smell of paper and ink. Slowly opening my eyes, I look around with my blurry vision. Eventually, my vision focused, and I managed to look around the room. I’m laying down on a futon, which smells as it was freshly washed.

The room is made of wood, and the tatami on the ground is new too, although the walls and roof look a bit old, although they are well treated and clean. There are a lot of shelfs on the walls, with old books. Well, the smell of paper and ink is solved.

But where the hell is this place? I sit up, getting a better view. The room is really full of shelfs, probably a storage. A paper door probably leads to the exit. I try to remember what happened before I passed out.

I was walking down the streets when I found three thugs trying to hit on some girls against their will. When I called them off, the girls ran, and the guys noticed that I had some supernatural power. They said something about selling me as a slave.

One of them rammed me, almost killing me and making me vomit blood. When suddenly, Hiyuuki-san appeared. I tried to tell him to run away, but I couldn’t talk. However, when the thug attacked him… he defeated him with one punch…

That’s all I remember. I touch my stomach, where I was wounded. I can’t feel anything, and my wound is healed. I get up, I can’t stay here for long. Whoever brought me here can be an enemy, and staying here for too long may be bad.

Making an ice dagger in my hand, I walk to the door making light steps. My clothes are still the same, with some drops of my blood on it. Still the same clothes that I was using when I was defeated by those thugs.

I slowly open the door, making my best to not to make any sound. I walk out with my bare foot, trying not to make any sound. I walk the corridor, passing by four paper doors, every of which I ignored and followed forward, avoiding the risk of being discovered with the sound of the rain as background.

I approach the exit, peering through the strangely open door, as if inviting me to escape. What I see shocks me. It’s a simple veranda, that I have seen a few times in my infancy, like a lot of kids from my generation ad previous generations of our fathers and grandfathers, the veranda of one of the buildings of the Sensou no Kami temple.

On the pillar holding the roof, there’s a boy sitting at it’s base, leaning on it, reading a book. It’s Hiyuuki Iori, the actual “head monk” of the temple, and my classmate. And most likely, my savior. He’s distracted, reading a book with black cover, with letters that I can’t recognize. It’s not Japanese, and surely not Russian.

I’ve never seen characters like that. I disperse my ice dagger, coming out from my hiding.

(Fuyuki): “H-Hiyuuki-san?”

He then raises his eyes from his book, looking at me. He smiles lightly, saying:

(Iori): “Kaichou! You’re finally awake! It has been six hours already!”

Six hours!

(Fuyuki): “Hiyuuki-san, we are at your family temple?”

(Iori): “Yeah. I took you here after you passed out. Luckily, I managed to heal you. Do you want to wait here until the rain passes?”

I nod, and sit in front of him, leaning on the wall. He goes back to read his book. I sit there, looking at the rain in silence. It’s quiet, but it’s not awkward, more to a comfortable silence. However, there is a slight tension, at least for me. After all, there is a question that I want to make, but I don’t have the courage to ask.

So, I eventually get bored, and my eyes start to wander. Eventually, they land on his face. Blue eyes, clear as ice. Pale skin, black, silky hair that uncommon for boys. I can’t tell whatever he is reading, but is something complicated as he frowns cutely.

I smile lightly without noticing. His face… is the same that I have been seeing on my dreams. I blush as I remember those dreams, and avoid looking at his face to suppress the weird sound that was coming up to my throat.

As I calm down, I eventually go back to look at his face. As I do that, I start to think about what I know about him. Hiyuuki Iori, the nightmare of the five families. I have seen a lot since we were kids, but never had any relationship with him save for a few word exchanges.

Since he was a kid he was liked by the people of the village, and always had a lot of support. As we grew up and some delinquents started to appear in the outer village and started to form gangs, he surprisingly got rid of them.

Not only that, he is from the Hiyuuki family. The five families, although they call themselves rulers, and people from the outer village seem to think so, the people from the inner village know the truth.

This village, the Yuuki, founded after the name of the Hiyuuki family, was founded by the same. Initially, it was just a temple founded by the family. With the passing centuries, people from all around started to gather around, making a good relationship with the War God’s Temple in unstable times.

Eventually, the village was founded, rooted in ancient traditions, as one of if not the oldest Japanese village ever, with one of the oldest lineages of the world, dating of 2.000 years. The family ruled until Nobunaga’s time, until the five families were chosen to manage the affairs of the growing village.

In a more practical way, he can be considered high nobility around here, since we are mostly independent from the Japanese government. We are just for show, although the families have the illusion that they are in control. He even is recognized by the emperor, and, if I’m not wrong, he can have a meeting with him, as well every member of the main branch.

He has the real authority here, but since he doesn’t show much interest in ruling the village, the five families keep their duty of managing things for him. I only know about all of this because of my mother, who told me what my father was hiding from me, and what they went through great effort to keep off the records.

And here he is, the guy who holds all the power of this city since his grandfather passed it to him years ago, reading a book that I can’t understand. Not only the book, but I can’t understand him as well.

Every time I see him he doesn’t have any expression, sometimes only giving a light smile. He is also cold and impossible to read. He has an unapproachable aura. Now that I think about it, I never saw him with any friends. Not that he is a loner, he is quite popular here, but not much people have the guts to talk to him. He looks like more of a lone spirit.

I see him frowning again as he reads, which is unbearably cute for me. As he makes different expressions that I never have seen before, I start wandering in my mind. I don’t know anything about him at all.

I still remember what my mother, who knew a lot about this village, told me about his family. My mother… every time I think about her, I still remember what she told me before she passed.

“Live with freedom.”

She is the reason why I am aiming to the seat of the Genbu family. My father only married my mother because of the financial power of her family. However, it was an unwilling marriage, since her family had a bad reputation for something that happened years ago.

Because of that, she, as the last member of her family and pregnant with me, was ostracized by my father’s family, who didn’t love her, even if they had a child together. She gave her best to raise me alone without the support of the family, even when she was struck by heavy illness.

Because of that, she passed young while I was still 10 years old. I will never forget her last words to me. The woman who sacrificed everything for me and loved me to her last breath. She is the reason why I am aiming to the seat of chief of the family. I want to change things, I want to make things better for everyone, and change the narcissistic ways of the families.

Thinking of my mother gave me courage, so I opened my mouth:

(Fuyuki): “H-Hiyuuki-san!”

He looked at me, raising his eyes from his book, saying:

(Iori): “rather than that, Kaichou, please, call me Iori.”

I nodded, blushing a bit.

(Fuyuki): “W-well then, I-I-Iori-san.”

Dammit, I don’t know why my heart is bating so loudly! I never had trouble saying the first name of anyone.

(Fuyuki): “Back then, when the thugs attacked you…”

I left the phrase there, and his eyes already showing that he got the meaning of my question. Sighing, he said:

(Iori): “Although I wanted to keep hidden for some more time, yes, I also have supernatural powers, like you guys from the Supernatural Research Club.”

So he knows about us…

(Fuyuki): “So why didn’t you contact us? We could have helped…”

He chuckled, saying:

(Iori): “I’m different from you five. I got my powers in the beginning of this year. I’m far more powerful than you guys.”

I frowned a bit. This got me a bit angry. If he knew about us, then he could at least have helped a bit. We were confused with our powers, and someone with the experience could have helped us when we were afraid of these powers.

(Fuyuki): “Then why didn’t you help us?”

I asked, a bit angry. He noticed it and for the first time, I saw a genuine smile coming from him. Although it made my heart jump a bit, his smile was mysterious, with a hint of mischief, that surprisingly suits him.

(Iori): “I did help though. The minds of the students and staff of the school were hard to trick into ignoring your club completely.”

(Fuyuki): “So the reason that nobody searched for us and seemed to ignore us completely…”

(Iori): “It was me who messed with their heads. Although I didn’t do anything dangerous. I also told Maria about the way to escape the zombies.”

(Fuyuki): “Wait, Maria-san knew about you since then?!”

He chuckled at my reaction, saying:

(Iori): “Don’t be mad at her, she was trying to protect you guys by keeping me hidden. Believe me, it was for the best.”

I calm myself down, thinking about it. He is right, the others wouldn’t handle it very well, and she did something good hiding him from us. But still, him calling her only Maria bothered me a bit.

(Fuyuki): “For how long she has known about you?”

(Iori): “She learned about me just before the summer vacations. She noticed that I was observing you guys, and confronted me about it.”

I see… it has been some time already.

(Fuyuki): “So, you keep contact with her?”

(Iori): “Yeah, she comes here every night to train. She was attacked by the same gang as you were.”

Oh~~, so they are meeting every night eh? They surely seem to be having some fun.

(Fuyuki): “Why does she come here to train?”

(Iori): “You experienced what happened yourself, didn’t you? It doesn’t matter if you have powers, there’s always someone stronger out there. She’s coming here to become stronger.”

I feel like I ate a bitter bug. What a stupid question. Of course, she’s coming here to become stronger, what else she would be doing?

(Fuyuki): “I-Iori-san… can I come here to train too?”

(Iori): “? Sure, why not?”

(Fuyuki): “Thank you! But, what I will do about the others?”

(Iori): “Others?”

(Fuyuki): “The guys from the Supernatural Research Club, it would be unfair to get ahead of them whit the extra training but…”

(Iori): “You can call them too, I don’t mind.”

Wait, what?!

(Fuyuki): “Weren’t you trying to hide from us? Why reveal yourself now?”

(Iori): “Well, now that two of five already found out, I don’t think that I should hide anymore. I don’t mind helping you guys, Kaichou!”

I blushed a little. I’m kind of jealous as he calls Maria by her name while he calls me by my post at school.

(Fuyuki): “Y-y-you can call m-m-me Fuyuki…”

I say, blushing strongly while looking at him. He avoids my eyes, and… is he… blushing a little?

(Iori): “I’m counting on you then…. Fuyuki.”

I smile again. My heart is beating so loud right now!