True Self Vs. Pretense~Chapter one

"Never Knowing each other  existed,

until the day we bumped and crossed paths with you.

As like one in a million possibilities."

        Kyoto, Japan in the year of 2040, twenty years ago a huge war happened between humans and robots. Many warriors who were brave and of strong willpower trained in Arcana University. They sacrificed their lives on the battlefield for humanity, in the end both sides suffered great loses and the war ended in a draw. That battleground is where the Nango Group headquarters stand ever so proudly, consisting of over fifty floors and towering over the city. I lost both of my parents in that war, they were both newly grads and newly weds for less than two years, when the war broke out.



        Now, the principal and some superior officers who know my identity give me special treatment all the time. I have no memory of that year which I was born, I guess perhaps it was so frightening that my heart refused to let me remember and kept it locked away. My name is Sato Akira, junior in Arcana, I have blond hair which you will always notice is in a bun tied by a ribbon, my bangs are messy and cover my forehead. My eyes are calmest green shade, there is a tattoo on my right arm of a serpent, I know what it means, everyone wears uniform at Arcana. The female junior year uniform consists of a sleeveless shirt, black tie, arm guards and slacks like a samurai's. I wield my family katana all the time, its the thing which confirms who I am.



        Running late as usual, this late morning of September, I wandered carelessly down the street towards the campus of the school. Suddenly, a car's horn caught my attention, I turned to see a long black limo stop near me, the window rolled down. A boy no older than sixteen popped his head out at me, "You are Sato Akira?" He asked seductively. She nodded slowly in confusion, as doors of the limo opened and men in black suits surrounded her quickly. "Nango? Police? Movie star?" Akira asked without thinking. "Are you a mindless empty human?! We are from Nango, but if you weren't mindless, you wouldn't be their child. Grab her at once, don't give her the chance to strike." The boy ordered coolly. She was about to draw her katana when a shadow rushed passed her and knocked the men down with blinding speed.



        She stared at the black and golden hair, messy and tied up halfway with a string, he wore a sleeveless vest and samurai slacks with flip-flops. A katana was in his hand, there was a tattoo of a dragon on his right arm. He wore arm guards as well, Akira frowned at him, "you--" She started. He turned to her with a furious expression, "baka! Don't go around admitting you are Sato Akira to strangers!" He scolded at her. "What?! Who are you calling baka?!" She demanded glaring at him in annoyance. He was about to reply and stopped staring at her in silence. "Besides, I don't know you, you don't know me, so what business is it of yours to call me baka and order me around?!" She scoffed. He clenched his jaw, glaring at her, she stared back at him not flinching. The boy stared at them with a bored expression, "What is this? A lover's quarrel?" He teased. Akira was flaring up, "What did you say?! I dare you to say it again, you little pimp!" She yelled.



        "Enough small talk, I don't care what the relationship is between the two of you. Guards grab her now." The boy said lazily. Akira backed away nervously, the guy raised his katana and leaped forward knocking the men down again all in one move. "Leave, don't force me to draw my katana or you will regret it." He warned in a icy tone. The sound of sirens was heard coming from the direction of the campus, "Damn it, well whatever I had enough fun for one day, retreat you useless hulks!" The boy snapped and rolled the window up. The guards vanished into the limo and it pulled away from the curb racing down the street out of sight. Akira let out a sigh of relief and continued down the street, the guy followed after her without a word, she turned to him. "Who are you?! Why do you keep following me?" She snapped at him. "Raiden-Sama!" A voice called suddenly from down the street. They turned to see a guy with square shape glasses, a stern look upon his face, his hair was black and smooth tied into a loose ponytail on his shoulder. He wore the uniform of a senior with a sleeveless hoodie, baggy pants and something tied on his back concealed by a cloth.



        He tripped and fell face flat on the ground, "Er...is he your friend?" She asked. "I don't know him." Raiden replied and turned away. "That hurts, Raiden-Sama!!!!!" The boy whimpered standing up, he walked over to them. "My name is Yamamoto Tsuneo, I am a senior like Raiden-Sama, nice to meet you. By the way, are you Raiden-Sama's new girlfriend?" Tsuneo asked. Akira glared at him in fiery and disdain and stomped down the street. Raiden and Tsuneo stared after her, "let's go you baka." Raiden muttered and walked off. Akira entered the campus and took in the fresh air, "Aki!!!!!" A voice called. Akira turned as a girl ran over to her, she wore glasses, her hair was tied to the left, she wore a butterfly sleeved shirt with a tie and mini skirt with stockings. She was the splitting image of a female version of Tsuneo, she was a freshman at the school. "What is it Maki-Chan?" Akira asked smiling. "Did you read this?!" Maki exclaimed shoving a newspaper in her face. "I can't read it like this!" Akira said chuckling lightly pushing away the newspaper and stared at the headline,

"Sato's Clan last descendant, Sato Akira has been found in Arcana University!"

Akira's jaw dropped at once and cursed under her breath. "What's wrong, Sato-Sama?" Maki asked. Akira shook her head and sighed to herself in disbelief, whispers arose from all around them. Akira sprinted down the sidewalk covering her ears with her hands.



        She rammed head into someone and fell back, a hand grabbed her by the arm and steadied her, "I am sorry!!! Gomenasai!!!" Akira exclaimed bowing deeply several times. "Its fine, are you hurt?" A guy's voice asked. She stared up at him, the man before her was handsome beyond words, his hair loosely tied and he wore a samurai slack with a vest, something was tied onto his back. "Miss--?" He asked again with a raised eyebrow. She snapped back into reality blushing deeply, "I'm fine! Are you fine?!" She exclaimed panicking. He smiled lightly, "my name is Ono Yasushi desu and you?" He asked friendly. "Just ...I'm-I mean---I'm Aki desu!" She stammered feeling a bit faint. He seemed to be junior as well, Akira was secretly laughing in pleasure inside. Raiden popped out of nowhere next to her, "he already has a girlfriend, don't think about a chance." He mused. Akira stared over at him in annoyance, "Out of the way with you!!!!" She snarled kicking him away. Yasushi watched with an amused expression and shook his head, Akira cleared her throat and smiled at him. Raiden stood up and rubbed his behind with a hand, "Yasushi!!!!" A voice called.



        They turned to see a girl with wavy black hair walk over to them, she had a stern look on her face and wore the same uniform as Akira. She jumped and turned away, trying to hide her face. "Ah-no need to hide Akira, you met my boyfriend, right?" The girl mused. Akira turned to them and forced a smile, "Good morning, Mana-San." She greeted. "Akira?" Yasushi asked. "Don't you know? She is the famous Sato Akira, who made the front page of all the newspapers." Mana mocked. Akira balled her hands into fists, for the first time in her life, she didn't know what to say. Raiden  grabbed her by the arm and ran off, pulling her after him. Akira stared at Raiden's back with teary eyes, her heart felt as light as a feather his hand against hers was magical. They made their way into the gym, "let go!" She snapped breaking free of his grasp and looked around. A girl and a guy were training with weapons, they stared at Raiden and Akira in confusion.



        The girl had pigtails and a long sleeveless dress that was open from waist down, revealing tall black boots. She held a scythe in her hands, seemingly a sophomore. The guy was holding a naginata  in his gloved hands, he was wearing a full kimono and his hair was messy and loosely tied onto his shoulder. Raiden waved at them and glared over at Akira, she set down on the mat and rolled her eyes. He sat down next to her in silence, the sound of weapons clashing against each other filled the room. "Why are you always following me?" She finally asked. He stared at her and shrugged, "I save everyone, my motto in life is, never think about yourself, only think about others, become selfless." He said proudly. She stared at him in silence, "you really are a baka." She muttered and looked away. He broke into a grin, "you said baka over ten times today." He observed. Akira turned to him, poking his arm frantically, "have not! How dare you accuse me. You're the one who kept saying that. A baka who calls other people baka is an idiotic moron. So there!" She spat.



        He broke into laughter and sighed, "who is laughing, you moron. Don't laugh if no one laughs." She said punching him in the face. A cracking sound was heard, the boy and girl stared over at them in shock. "Ouch!!!!!! My hand!" Akira yelled in pain. Raiden examined her hand, she tried to squirm free, "don't move or do you want this hand to be useless forever?" He snapped in a serious tone. She stared at him dumbfounded, he opened his bag and pulled out ointment and bandages. The ointment felt cool against her hand, he bandaged her hand in silence. "Finished...next time, don't punch me or you will end up in more pain." He advised. She stood up, "next time, I'll punch you until you beg for mercy." She snapped. He was up on his feet in a blink of an eye and pinned her against the wall, he leaned close to her.She was shrinking away, "samurais would rather die than beg for mercy. You can tease me all you wish, but never again mock me or samurais." He said in a flat tone. She stared at him, he backed off and turned away, "get out of here, you'll be late for class!" He said. She ran out and didn't dare to look back, Raiden's gaze and expression haunted her.



        All classes were dragging and seemingly very boring it was always the same in the classes, fighting, defending, protecting, skills and talents to use against robots. Mana slid a note over to Akira's desk, Akira stared over at her and unfolded the paper, "Yasushi will be joining our class soon." It read. Akira's heart pounded rapidly against her chest, she turned to Mana and gave a thumbs up. After classes, everyone was gossiping excitedly about a visit, the university would be having by the Nango group. Akira dropped the bag at the name of Nango, a hand picked up the bag and held it in front of her, she stared at Raiden with the same pair of shaken eyes. "Control your emotions, if you keep acting like this, everyone will know who you really are." He said calmly. "Tomorrow is the twentieth anniversary of the war from twenty years ago." Akira said finally. "....Go home, rest up be prepared for tomorrow. I will always guard you."He said.



        She stared at him in silence, time seemed to freeze at once, "is this your way of asking to be friends with me?" She scoffed. He looked taken back and surprised, "think whatever you wish, friends okay?" He asked and held out a hand to her. She stared at it and broke into a smile, grabbing the hand and shook it. He stared at her and smiled back lightly, Akira waved at him and ran off.

"Raiden, protect her, please until the time is ripe. Protect her with your life.

The voice echoed in his ears, he sighed and turned walking in the opposite direction, Raiden wished he could just tell Akira the truth. But, he can't, he could only guess at what her reaction would be when his true purpose was revealed into the light.



        Akira stared at her tiny room right above the ice cream shop, the ice cream shop owner agreed to rent it for free if she helped out in the shop. She fell face flat onto the bed and smelled the flowery scent of her blanket, "tomorrow-eh?" She mumbled and pulled open the drawer, taking out the picture of the only family photo she had. Voices and blurry images failled her head, she let out a sharp cry as the voices and blur overflowed.

"Raiden!!!

Akira!!!!

Seal it now!!!!

The voices erupted from her ears, she cried in pain and fainted on the bed. She was dreaming all was a dream, she opened her eyes and squinted as the dim light came through the window. The clock read, "6:45am" Her eyes widened in disbelief and sprayed herself with body mist, grabbing her bag, she ran out the door. Akira closed her eyes and focused her energy and pushed off the ground, running through the air, "I will make it!!!" She muttered encouraging herself and pushing off the walls, bouncing the down the street with her excellent qing gong.