Chapter 2: Turn the music down!

[Jin Chisoku]

Kutsuu still didn't quite understand what she had meant by 'train', and the expression on his face must have shown it because Aki's demeanor changed from excitement to another glance of frustration to pity. She forced a weak smirk, and grabbed his shoulder. He felt a wince of pain, and grabbed her wrist. She picked him off the ground, and looked at him with concern, "You....weight almost nothing...."

He shuffled his feet, trying to find some sort of relief in the ground that wasn't there, "Wait, wait....wait!"

She laughed a bit, and let him down, "Follow me, Kutsuu..."

She turned and walked back inside to the hallway's entrance opposite of his. She looked both ways and made her way down to a lower floor. Kutsuu did his best not to slip as he had done before. He made his way down to what he assumed would be the basement level. He was half way down the stair when Aki turned, and stopped. She sighed, and turned back around, continuing her decent down the stairs.

Kutsuu thought to himself, 'What the hell am I doing to piss this lady off?'

She reached the end of the stair, and clapped several times. A small strain of candle lit up, and illuminated the large, cool, underground room. He stepped down, and started to look around. He looked back up, and the staircase split the room in two, and ended up placing him right in the middle of the damp, empty area. he turned back to Aki, who placed her hand over his mouth.

"Just, shut up, and I'll tell you what's going on....", she shook her head in digust, "...ok, there is an extremely power Guardian coming by today....he's rumored to be the last man on the defense of the Yuuga Order...."

Her grip tightened, sensing that he was about to try and speak. She continued with a growing strain in her voice, "They are the 'good' guys in the war that's raging on....", she saw the confused look on his face, and her grip tightened even more, "...what the old man forgot to tell you was that a sevre and devistating war is going on.....between the Yuuga Order, and Kuragari's Masuraos Squad. Of course, it's not a squad, but they like them name....", she sighed, and continued on, "...Well, the Yasuragi's have been in this place for as long as it has exsisted, while the Squad has just appeared, they're rumored to be lead by the remains of some very, very bad people. The Yuuga Order has a fraction of the troops as the Squadron, but....they have a lot more..."

A calm, and almost cheerful voice echo'd through out the basement, "Power...?"

A long drawn yawn could be heard through out the basement, and constant sound of sandals approaching them.

Aki lowered her hand off Kutsuu's face, and instantly kneeled after hearing his voice, " Sir, I have someone for you..."

The man's figure finally appeared, and then the room got heavy for Kutsuu. He felt his body straining to manage standing around this guy. Each step closer the man took the room grew heavier, the air denser, as if he was dragging everything with him in a much stronger gravity. Kutsuu kneeled, and looked at Aki. She had her eyes closed, and continued to look down. Kutsuu managed to get a glimpse of the man before he was forced to look down again. He stood at maybe 6' and was black. He wore geta sandals, with no socks. He was wearing a much more relaxed attire. His hakama's were black, his kimono a cream color, and his robe was a mixture of green, and black. He had in his hand a fan, and on his hip was a small blade. He also had a hat that reminded Kutsuu of the old Chicago movies. It was colored to match his robe.

The man smirked, and answered Kutsuu's unasked questions, "I'm Izoto Yoshimo, doctor Yoshimo, I am the Guardian of the 22nd checkpoint....and you're Kutsuu....How interesting....."

He bent down, and saw that Kutsuu's arms were straining to keep him stable. Yoshimo straightened back up, and sighed, "My bad, I forgot about this kind of thing....", he slipped on a silver bracelet, and the room suddently felt normal again, "....My spiritual power must have been killing you both...."

Aki yelled out in response, "NO SIR! I am able to withstand your spiritual force, sir!"

Yoshimo turned, and rubbed the back of his head, "Jeeze, Aki...you don't have to yell...."

Kutsuu mumbled, "Why....how..."

"All in due time Kutsuu, all your questions will be answered, but for now, you need to get up, and let me see if you're the man I need."

Kutsuu quickly straightened up, and stood. He would do anything to get away from this Aki lady. She was pissed over everything he did. Yoshimo looked at him for a moment, and nodded.

"You're the guy."

"For...."

Yoshimo sighed, and looked at Aki, "Why did you pick this one? You know I hate people who ask a lot of questions."

She stood up, and saluted, "When he grabbed me, I sensed....I felt..."

"Yes...?"

"I felt a powerful pressure, much like of an A-rank Kasuta...."

Yoshimo turned, and looked at Kutsuu, "An A-rank....pressure, from you?"

He smirked, and laughed, "Well, I guess we need to be going, don't we?"

Kutsuu nodded, and started to walk closer to Yoshimo, when all of a sudden the pressure he had felt before came back. He fell to the ground, and Yoshimo sighed, "That bracelet I'm wearing is a binder, it supresses my fo-su** to a smaller range, making it possible for someone like you to be around me, but not too close....Understood, Kutsuu?"

He replied, his face still in the ground, "I....I...under...stand...."

Yoshimo turned, and started walking up the stairs, "I hope you're not wrong Aki...you know no.7's reputation..."

Aki stood straight again, and saluted, "Yes, yes, sir!"

She glared at Kutsuu who stuck his tounge out at her. She rushed over, and drew back. Kutsuu ran to the end of the stairs, and made his way up as quick as the socks would allow him to. She stopped, and choose that sticking her tounge out would satisfy he urge to beat him.

Kutsuu looked back at Yoshimo, and asked, "So....I'm the man....for?"

"I've found an ancient weapon buried in a small portion of land the Squad owned. Your spirit make up is perfect for it."

"My spirit make up?"

Yoshimo, now in the middle of the courtyard stopped, and looked up to the sky sighing, "Yes, you're make up, it's how your spiritual energy flows through out your body...and how powerful it is...."

They started walking again, and Kutsuu was about to ask another question when Yoshimo cut him off, "I have a very rare ablity to see people's spiritual flow, so, I'm one of the few SS-class that is sent out to deal with the districts. We choose a few to come with us, and we train them, arm them, and adpot them to the Yuuga Order...So, congrats, you've been choosen to join our ranks. Now, shut up, we've got a long way back to the checkpoints."

Kutsuu still had a lot of questions, but this guy seemed to know what he was talking about, so following him couldn't have been the worst choice in the world, or could it?

They stepped outside of the barracks, and infront of Kutsuu was a massive set of islands, each with the simular looking building on it, each with the small dock on the northern end. Yoshimo pulled out a small case, and popped it open. Inside was a few cigars, and a lighter. He pulled one out with his mouth, and lit it, packing the cigar and lighter back into his robe. He took a small drag, and mumbled, "The boat will be here soon, I'll tell you more when it get's here..."