Chapter Text
idk like 7-8 yrs ago
“Tsukasa! are you okay..?” Rui crouched next to Tsukasa.
Tsukasa tripped over a rock while exploring with Rui.
“No!!! My knee hurts so bad! OW!!!!!” He held his knee, his hands on the bruise.
“Wait! First of all don't touch it, you touched a lot of things around here which made your hands dirty” He grabbed Tsukasa’s hands and pulled them off the bruise. “Why were you running so much anyway…” Rui asked while getting his water out.
“My dad said if I wanna become the best knight I should start training from day one! I will become the best knight in the universe and protect the kingdom from any danger!” Tsukasa’s pained expression turned into one of pride and confidence.
“You know, when you're a knight you shouldn't recklessly run. It’ll be bad if you get hurt while running away from someone…” he was about to pour some water on Tsukasa’s bruise before realizing they ran out of water. “Huh…we should go get water”
“There’s a river nearby! As for the running part, I’m trying to have more stamina! That's just as important” he stood up.
Rui stood up after him. “That's also true, it's impressive how much effort you put into this dream” Rui said as they both started walking towards the river.
They sat down beside it and Rui cleaned Tsukasa’s bruise with the water. Tsukasa looked over at some cave. The entrance seems too small for a regular person but they’re kids.
He turned to Rui, “Rui! Rui! Can we go there?” he said while pointing at the place he spotted.
Rui, who was cleaning his bruise, looked at where Tsukasa was pointing.
“Are you sure? You just got injured because of rocks, why do you wanna go somewhere with only rocks”
“When I’m a knight I won't be able to avoid danger just because I’m already hurt!”
“Guess I can't deny that…let's go there”
Present time
Tsukasa was looking around for two of his friends
Stuff in this kingdom has seemed…strange for the past few weeks. People have found evidence of something lurking around as well which is why Tsukasa, Mizuki and Akito are going on this expedition; To look for more signs that might help. “Where are they..we were supposed to meet up by now…-” his train of thought got cut off by a lady speaking to him.
“Tenma?” She looks like an adult “You're the talented knight, right?”
Tsukasa smiled “That's me! Is there anything you wish to tell me?”
“I want to thank you! Not only for protecting this place but also because ever since my daughter started looking up to you and wanting to be like you she's been going outside more and got some really nice friends! She's been doing better since”
Tsukasa smiled “Glad I helped you!”
The lady smiled and left. Tsukasa sat on a bench
“Where are they…” he sighed. His gaze turned to a puddle on the ground. “What's that paper?”
“oh…” it’s a missing person poster.
“Rui Kamishiro”
“background: male, around 10 at the age he went missing, purple haired with two cyan streaks and yellow eyes. He’s capable of performing spells; magical abilities”
“Ugh…they could at least add that there's a chance he changed. He’s been missing for 8 years…” he looked away from the poster.
“Rui, don't you think the child the mother mentioned reminds you of us…if only I could see you again…” Tsukasa thought and sighed. “He’s not dead, there's no way he is”
Suddenly, he got startled because of someone behind him
“AHH- ugh, there you two are” Tsukasa stood up and turned to them
“Sorry we're late! this guy got a little scared” Mizuki giggled to themselves.
“Shut the fuck up, I just didn’t wanna go past a very aggressive looking dog” Akito said, glaring at them
“You know you look just as mad as that dog, hypocrite”
“fuck you”
“Anyways! As we planned, we shall go exploring!” Tsukasa said with pride in his voice
“Can you tell Mizuki to shut up first”
“No can do! let's go!”
The three of them started walking outside the city. Most of the time Akito was just sick of Tsukasa’s ranting and Mizuki’s jokes.
Mizuki got bored and stepped on Akitos foot “oh noo!!!” they giggled
“You annoying little–!” He cut himself off before attempting to kick Mizuki, which they dodged.
“Just TRY” Mizuki replied. Tsukasa was already familiar with how these things go. Usually he just continues walking and they catch up later, so that's what he decided to do.
Tsukasa kept walking, occasionally stopping when he heard noises. At some point he noticed a part on the ground that didn't have any grass which instantly made it stand out. He walked closer to it and kneeled down.
“Mizuki really does know where to go…” He said to himself. He considered getting Mizuki and Akito first but he realized this might've been what some animal did about hiding its food so he decided to check for himself first. He rolled his sleeves up to avoid getting them dirty and dug in the ground, avoiding getting dirt under his nails.
When he was done he was…confused to say the least. It was a bird, obviously deceased.
“Aw…poor bird…huh?” He noticed something strange. The bird seemed unharmed yet it was dead.
“What the…no bite marks either. Did a person do this and felt bad so they buried it? It doesn't explain how unharmed it is tho…” He sighed.
He heard something creaking behind him. He quickly turns around and the first he sees is a tree tilting towards him. The more it tilted the faster it was falling.
“HOLY SHIT–” He jumped out of the way before the tree completely collapsed on where he was. He dropped his flashlight which is now crushed.
“Okay well this definitely wasn’t by an animal. Who are you, random person?!” He yelled out. He took his sword out of the sheath that was connected to his belt, obviously he felt danger.
He spotted a person from afar. His hair has two shades of blue, that's the most Tsukasa could remember. Before he could even react that person yelled
“Failed!!! Evacuate!” It wasn’t loud enough for Tsukasa to hear clearly but after a few seconds he understood what was said. Unfortunately, The person started running, disappearing between the trees.
“GET BACK HERE! You think you can try to crush me and get away with it?!” Tsukasa tightened his grip on his sword as he started running towards that person. Yes, he had no idea in what direction he went but he didn't care.
He was running for a few minutes and stopping occasionally. He didn’t stop because he was out of breath most of the time, he mostly stopped to try to figure out where to go. This part of the forest wasn't only like a maze, but the trees covered up most of the light as well.
“UWAH–!” He ended up falling on the ground, it was expected since he's been running around without knowing where for the past few minutes. His legs feel almost limp. He sat up and crouched, panting heavily.
“How could I…let this guy escape…!” He groaned.
He heard voices behind him, as he assumed, Mizuki and Akito caught up. They found him despite him being pretty deep in a forest.
“Tsukasa?! Why did you run so much, You're scarily out of breath” Akito crouched in front of him.
Mizuki seemed just as distressed. They kneeled next to him as well, “Seriously though, why did you run so much”
Tsukasa took a few more seconds to catch his breath before speaking up, “I found something that stood out and while i was checking it a tree fell and almost crushed me…it was because of some guy who ran off right after he realized i wasn't dead so i tried to catch him but i didn't know in which direction he went…extra difficult because it was in this hell of a forest…”
Akito and Mizuki looked very confused, to say the least. Mizuki was the first one to speak up
“That's odd…should we search for them or go back?”
“We're going back. Someone is clearly trying to kill Tsukasa and I am not about to let this guy die” Akito said. His voice was firm, as if he's just taking away every other option.
“No! We can't leave early without finding anything!” Tsukasa quickly replied, he sounded very annoyed. He’s mad at Akito for even thinking about leaving.
“We found a criminal. I don't know what about you but I personally think that's a pretty useful find. Now get up”
“Ugh…I guess you're right. Okay, fine.” Tsukasa stood up, clearly annoyed.
Akito and Mizuki got up afterwards.
“Geez, Tsukasa. You shouldn't stay in a place when people are planning your death” Mizuki giggled slightly afterwards “Glad your loud ‘get back here!’ was loud enough for us to hear”
“See, Akito? There's nothing wrong with how I talk. It's even helpful!”
Akito just groaned. “Only sometimes but okay” he said as they started walking back.