10 years ago

"Stronger!" She staggered backward because of the blow from Yuta's father's sword. "Focus! Eira! What are you doing?"

"Y- yes, Sir." The fifteen year old was exhausted, but she wanted to keep on going. Eira gripped her sword tight before launching an attack forward towards the man who blocked her easily.

"Don't let your opponents read your movements easily. Make them clueless about where your attacks would come from." When she wasn't ready, he quickly thrusted the sword towards her. Eira barely avoided the attack.

Her fingers were trembling, and a few drops of blood fell onto the ground. Yuta's father realised the cut and made her stop.

"Why did you stop? Please continue."

"Eira, your arm is bleeding," he stated as a matter of fact, but she remained unfazed. "It's a minor cut. Please continue, I am fine," she repeated, but the older man doesn't seem to be convinced.

"It is essential for you to be treated and rest. It's been two hours since your practice started. We will have to end it here, Eira." The man sheathed his sword, but the girl didn't make a move.

"If I were to get hurt in battle, there's no time for rest," she said stubbornly. Her cold eyes looked different today. A red hue begins to fill her irises. The wound on her arm was healing by itself.

"A mere small cut won't stop me. You do remember what my power is." The aura around her began to change, and the old man sighed as if the same thing had happened before.

"You're going to tire yourself, Eira. We'll stop here. You'll look dead-er by tomorrow, and you have evening classes, don't you?" Eira's eyebrows twitched in annoyance, but the old man had a point.

"You've made good progress. It's just.. you have to be more patient with yourself, Eira. Don't be harsh to yourself, or you'll destroy your soul in the process." she watched him walk into his house quietly.

She sheathed her sword and closed her eyes to calm herself down. She felt like she needed to improve quickly. Eira stared at her dirty palm because of the dirt and sweat from the practice. She had few cuts and bruises, but it healed quickly. Mainly because of her powers.

Her mind was filled with different things, and a certain memory decided to appear. She was running away from her old home with her father's sword in her hands. Her little feet ran as fast as she could. The people who caused her parent's deaths.

The true face of the authorities.

"Eira, are you okay?" A voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned towards the man. Nakamoto Yuta. Her family had always been friends with the Nakamotos, so he's basically her childhood friend.

When she was on the run, it just so happened that she encountered his father, who was out in the forest hunting. He recognized her and took her under their wings. Such great people.

"I'm fine.. just thinking,"

"About what? You think non-stop with that small brain, do you know that? Did you forget that you're just a fifteen years old middle schooler." He held his laughter when her eyes widened in an attempt to warn him. Eira shook her head and looked away from him. Staring unto nothing.

"I want them dead."

"Well, that's a starter,"

"Do you think I'm evil, Yuta? Do you think that my plans are not achievable? They.. Is it worth fighting for?" She gripped her sword tight, but her expression remained the same. Yuta just watched her side profile quietly before saying something. He threw his gaze to wherever she was looking at.

"You're not evil. At least to me, you're not. You will always be the same Eira whether you have lost your mind or you've become evil. Your plans.. I couldn't say anything about that. I'm not a precognition user who can predict the future. But I— I want to help you. I'll walk with you down the path you had chosen. It doesn't matter what path it is." he turned to look at her, and their gaze met.

Her face softened, and a soft smile was planted on her, which caught him off guard. "Thank you, Yuta." his eyes lingered on her lips before he looked away with his ears turning slightly red.

"I want to be in one of your plans. Whatever position it's going to be, I'll help you to the best of my abilities," he muttered and scratched the back of his neck.

"I want to make an underground group,"

"Like a criminal or mafia gang?"

"You could say that, we won't be doing particularly good things anyways— at least that's what I think people would see us as. Just a little underground kingdom for my plan. And there'll be a group I'd like to call it The Elites"

"Sounds cheesy," he mumbled, which she heard and frowned. "Do you have a better name then?"

"Do you want to gather people with superpowers like us?" He asked, which caused her to think. "It doesn't have to be someone with powers. I want special individuals with different abilities and who would be loyal to the team."

"Then what do you want to do with The Elites?"

"Take down the Authorities." Both of them fell into complete silence, which is a comfortable and familiar thing to them. Eira twirled her sword as she remembered something.

"I met someone two years ago, when we're twelve."

"Is that why you rarely come home?" Yuta asked quickly as he placed his hand on his hip. Eira rolled her eyes. "I was staying at my house where else would I be?"

"It's dangerous for you to be alone! Especially in that place where—" Yuta sighed and shook his head. "What about this person?"

"He's younger a few years than us and.. he is special." Yuta's eyebrows twitched, but before he could say anything she spoke,
"He had to run away because his family were killed by thugs who wanted to sell his brother to the Authority. So he had to survive on his own. I had my eyes on him and helped a little bit."

He saw her expression softened slightly as she talked about this person. "I guess I saw myself in him and felt like helping that person to survive."

"Eira"

"That one year was.. special. He wanted to follow me back, but despite his efforts, I still turned him down. He wanted to join in whatever path I was going, but to me, he was too young for that." She caressed the hilt of her sword. Yuta stared her face for a moment before tucking the few strands of hair behind her ear.

"You're still young too, Eira."