Chapter 1

Summary:

Beyond our everyday life lies a hidden world that can exist anywhere. One of these worlds is the world of 'Shinobi'. A terrible incident leads to a fateful experience as a young boy stripped of his memories must train alongside the Shinobis who taken him in. A world full of adventure he never dreamt of before. However, what might start off as a wonderful life might eventually turn to woe as two supernatural colliding forces pull his strings and only his newfound Ninja Pals can save him from this fate! And maybe find love along the way, wouldn't that be nice?

Shadows Waiting in MemoriesChapter Text

Pain…

Darkness…

Agonizing pain shot throughout the entire body. Making it nigh impossible to move. A young man, wincing in pain, coughed up blood from his mouth. Try as he might to move but isn't able to on top of with his sight blinded by his wooziness, sluggishness and pain by the darkness. Stuttering to regain vision he mustered what little strength he had left to open his eyes. The rays of light blurred his vision once he finally to open them but his sight faded in and out with blurriness and clearness.

Once more he struggled to move his body and managed to lift his left arm up and took a look at it. His slightly tan skin tainted with the color of red, his blood on the bottom of his arm along down three of his fingers. Which he noticed he was wearing black fingerless gloves. Groaning in pain at the sight he could feel his right hand on his stomach, where his black shirt was torn and where the presence of warm liquid touched his fingertips.

How did this happen? He was going somewhere… wasn't he? What was it? Where was he going? Why does it seem so hard for him to remember? But he recalled something… he was jumped, jumped by something that wasn't human in the slightest.

Taking a look around his surroundings he could see he was in a forest of sorts with the mountains in plain sight and close by. It was nature untouched by man and all its glory and it was a beautiful sight to behold, but sadly its beauty is sullied by a bloody body on the ground. He noticed some strange cut marks on the trees… was someone using a blade of some kind to hack up the bark of the trees?

It doesn't make sense to the young man; how did he get in this forest? He knew he wasn't near anything like this on his way to where ever he was going before this happened and it's too much natural from his home town.

*Cough*

Coughing once more he wonder if this is the end for him? The pain isn't still completely agonizing and it felt like he's simply just in bad shape and his situation isn't life-threatening but he is losing blood quite a bit of blood and if left unattended for too long…

A thought occurred to him, the thing that attacked him… why didn't it finish him off? Why simply leave him here in this state? To let him die a slow and agonizing death? He doesn't recall. His memories are all murky or hazy and it was painful to draw out his recent memory. It wasn't too long ago he was attacked considering how fresh his wounds are but how could he have forgotten his assailant's face already?

His mind growing heavy and tired he felt his consciousness slowly slipping away and wonder if he will simply die in a blissful sleep?

"Are you okay!?"

The boy tried to open his eyes again upon hearing a female's voice and tried to turn to her as the sound of someone rushing to his side is heard as soon as whoever it was place their hand on his cheek.

His vision continued to jump back and forth from focus to blurred as he could barely make out the girl's appearance.

She had dark brunette colored hair tied into a ponytail with a white ribbon bow and hazel eyes. She wore a very interesting outfit, a yellow vest with a white shirt underneath with a green tie and though he couldn't make out of it, it seemed like she wore a green skirt as well along with a red bandanna wore like a scarf. Judging by her clothes she must be a high-school girl but something seemed different about her from most girls as well.

"..ey, tal... …me,"

The girl tried calling out to the boy. With teary eyes forming along with her deeply concern look of worried etched onto her lovely face, but his lost his grip on his consciousness as he sank into slumber. However, he is relieved someone found him in his possible dire situation.

"Kir…-sensei! ..ome quic…!"

Was the last thing he heard from the girl's delicate lips before everything faded to black.

Who is that girl?, the boy's final thoughts were before they, too, were taken away by the darkness.

A vast world of white as far as the eye can see as the young man walked forward with no destination in mind as there's nothing for miles to see.

The only thing presented in this white void were the strange clock gears on the sides of him far away. With the sound of gears turning and clocks ticking to be heard and one another thing present is the strange insignia on the ground. It was a strange mark but oddly familiar to him, it had a T-shape to it is one way to describe it. However, it curled at the edges of it and in a way looking like a crow's feet in a sense and the two little dots above it as well and there were two of them mirroring each other on the floor and the color of it is black. A strange sight to witness in this world of white.

Across from the young man was a strange cloaked figure with an odd design to it. Just like this world his cloak was pure white just the same, but it had slight black streaks of it on the sides of the cloak and blended with the white making. An interesting blend of white and black for the cloak as the solid colors complement each other though the way the colors edge off into thorn-like patterns make it a very menacing appearance.

The cloaked figure had his back turned to the young man but is aware of his presence as the hooded figure began to speak and it was directed at the young man.

"This fate is cruel, unforgivingly cruel, and humans are pitiably weak, weak enough to ruin the entire world. And those with power are ignorant, ignorant and blind to the point they let the world erode. It is a shame and sad fate this world has, don't you agree?"

The cloaked figure turned around to face the young man, his face hidden by his hood but a wicked smile could be seen on his face. The young man shuffled a few steps back. A sense of foreboding could be felt in the air and danger alerting the young man's fight or flight instinct. This hooded figure is dangerous… very dangerous yet… deep in his heart something tells him he cannot run away from this being.

"And your fate is cruel as well. Unbearably cruel and painful, and as you stand you are weak, so weak that there's nothing you can do to change your fate. Yet, this is your mission and you cannot stray from the path. Try as you might, and even with the help of your so-called 'friends', you will soon come to understand…"

The hooded figure extended his black glove-covered hand as a flare of black lightning encased around it as the young man stood there in paralyzing fear and couldn't move an inch as he was liaised by the black lightning.

And just like lightning it struck faster than the eye could see as it pierces the young man's chest, the sound of birds chirping the lightning made was the only thing to be heard in the silent white void. The young man is then soon electrocuted as he howled in pain.

"…this is YOUR CURSE!"

The cloaked figure crossed his arms over his chest as his hands sprout out a pair of lightning energy blades, his right hand black lightning and his left hand white lightning. As he darted forward and crosscuts the young man without remorse or mercy.

"Now tell me! Will you succumb to your 'fate' and accept reality? Or fruitlessly try in vain to struggle against your 'fate' only for the world to meet its same destination regardlessly… answer me, CHRISTOPHER!!!"

"ARRRRGGGGGGHHHH!!!!"

Bolting right up with a quick scream of terror after experiencing that strange nightmare. The young man panting hectically with beads of sweat rolling down the side of his head as he clutched his scalp with his right hand trying to calm down and take deep breath to relax himself.

After finally calming his nerves down he took a moment to check his surroundings. He noticed he was inside a hospital room. To his right a window with its curtains pulled back to let in the afternoon setting sun's light in and to the front and back of his bed where machines most likely monitoring his vitals and condition. The room was basically white, just like his nightmare, which is unsettling him a bit but he paid no mind to it.

Noticing he longer wore his usual clothes and was wearing a hospital gown. He tried to remember what exactly happen to him before he fainted but such thoughts were put on hold when the door to his room opened up and a pair of gentlemen and a nurse walked into the room.

The black-haired man in the long white coat with glasses is most likely the doctor and the ponytail brunette nurse with the clipboard in her arms is the doctor's assistant. Most likely have some of the young man's health statistics, but he could not figure out who the other man was with them.

The strange man had rugged gray hair and dressed in dark clothing coupled with a black tie and matching striped shirt underneath the black jacket he wore. He must be a teacher of some sort, was the feeling that the young man was getting from him. His reddish-brown eyes bore into the young man's own bright blue eyes and his stoic grim expression made the young man gulped which made him quite nervous. Who were these people?

"It seems you're awake, now," the gray-haired man spoke first with a deep and calming voice. The young man could tell he was a strict, but kind, man from his voice only.

"Um… who are you? And where exactly am I?" the boy could only think of such an obvious and natural response like that since he's curious who this man is even though he's aware he's in a hospital room recovering from his injuries which he clearly remembered.

"You may refer to me as Kiriya," the grim-faced man answered back his expression never changing, "Currently you're at a private hospital. You gave us quite the scare young man when we found you in the woods like that," the man suddenly looked down to the young man's left side, "She was quite worried that she wouldn't leave your side that she'd fallen asleep waiting for you to wake up."

"She?" the young man gave a puzzling look until he looked to his left side and his eyes widen in shock. To see that same pony-tailed girl from before laying her head near his left arm and snoozing away. While nuzzling herself on the bed sheets without a care in the world as she was waiting for the young man to awake up.

"Uh…," the young man wasn't sure what to say as he doesn't know who this girl is and why'd she decided to stay by a stranger's side all… wait a minute, "I'm a little grateful that she was worried about me, but she didn't need to. Though I'm curious… how long was I out?"

As if expecting the question to rear its head both Kiriya and the doctor both exchanged a strange glance with each other as Kiriya was the first to answer him, "To be precise, you've been out of it for 6 hours."

As if he didn't quite hear him right the young man gave him a disbelieving expression, "Excuse me… what? Six hours? But wasn't I covered with cuts all over my body? I remember that at least, shouldn't I be bandaged up or something?"

The young man looked at his entire body examining his arms first and noticed that he was completely uninjured! All of his previous wounds are gone! He was baffled that six hours of rest and his wounds vanish completely!

"Wow! I'm fine! You guys must have some crazy medicine considering this is a private hospital," the young man let out a tone of amazement as he checked his arms and patted down his chest to find he truly was completely healed in such a short time.

However, both Kiriya and the doctor both looked surprised by his answer as they gave another glance to each other and the doctor spoke up first, "I'm afraid young man… we don't have such medicine to heal your wounds like that. You completely healed on your own."

"What?"

"Yes, we were completely baffled as well. I don't know how to explain it but as soon as you got to this hospital most of your wounds were healing already," the doctor rubbed his bare chin, "I've been trying to figure out how you have such an astonishing healing factor, but we've checked your blood samples and nothing appears to be out of the ordinary. We can't begin to explain it, and you don't recall having such amazing recovery feats?"

The young man simply shook his head not entirely hearing what he said. He healed on his own? He clearly remembered his body doesn't heal that fast… or did he? But there's so many blank spots in his memory now and some of them are murky as he cannot recall every detail.

Kiriya narrowed his eyes as he approached the young man, a very serious look on his face, "Can you tell me what you were doing in those woods? It's not a place easily accessible to most folks, but I don't think you wander in there on your own. Do you at least remember how you go there?"

The young man clenched his head tight as he tries to remember why he was in those woods, though a grip of fear was tighten around him, "I can't be sure exactly… but I don't recall walking near any woods. That I'm sure of at least… well 80% sure."

The young man grunted to himself as he tried to remember where he was going and then a lightbulb went on inside his head as he pounds his open palm with his fist, "Oh! I remember some of it now! I was heading off to work and I was driving!"

"Driving?" Kiriya repeated the words… there were no vehicles in the vicinity.

"Yeah," the young man said then he suddenly looked like he wasn't sure anymore, "Or was I driving? I think I was driving… or was I walking to meet some friends at the arcade? There's some memories I'm not sure anymore…"

The older man frowned, sad to hear his memories are confusing him like that.

However, he swapped to a nervous and fearful expression as he wrapped his arms around his body, "Then… I don't know what happened next, but… someone… no, clearly something that didn't look human attacked me on my route. I know you most likely don't believe me, but it was some sort of creature that attacked me.

He had a sad look in his eyes as he continued, "Next thing I know… it's got me in its grasp and then… darkness. I just black out I think, but I don't remember anything after that except waking up in the woods slightly where this girl found me."

Kiriya pondered this a bit. Something non-human attacked this young man and brought him to the woods with those injuries? Something doesn't add up, but Kiriya has a faint idea what might have attacked him but he doesn't know why one of them would leave him alive and in those woods of all places. But he did recall sensing something out of the ordinary during that time so it's not out of the question.

Kiriya did not like this one bit, but for now this boy's health is their top priority.

"By the way, which hospital is this anyway? Is it near Saint Luke's hospital or somewhere in the East Coast?"

"Huh?" this took Kiriya out of his train of thoughts when the young man spoke up again.

The young man blinked at the man's dumbfounded answer, "What? Did I say something weird? Then again, and I don't mean any offense, I don't normally see Asian people in hospital working here in this general area, But I think it's really cool! It's great to see more people from around the world visiting other countries!"

"East Coast? Isn't that somewhere in America?" the nurse finally spoke up and quite surprise the boy would say such a thing all of a sudden.

"Well, yeah, I mean I was born and raised in America. I mean that's where we are right now isn't it. I know I didn't move yet," the young man chuckled to himself unaware of the shock expressions on their faces, "Though I do dream of visiting Japan someday and living there myself one of these days! Why are you asking that… and why are you all looking at me like that?"

The people were at a loss of words at what the boy just told them as Kiriya stepped forward, "Young man…," he wasn't sure how to say it but he needed to know, "This hospital isn't located in America, this is a Japanese hospital. You're currently in Japan right now."

The young man was sat there silent with a smile until he slowly widens his eyes in disbelief and trembled a bit, "Eh…?"

It took him a few moments to let the information and shot up straight, "I AM! THAT'S AWESOME!" he exclaimed at first with starry eyes surprising the adult occupants by his sudden outburst. That wasn't the reaction they were expecting from him.

But then he backpedaled and realized his situation, "Wait… wait, w-wait, wait. Hold the phone! But, that can't be right! I know I live in America and haven't visited Japan at all and my everything is located back home! Besides you guys are speaking in total English, not Japanese and I know I can't speak fluent Japanese yet and barely can read the characters either! What's today's date anyway?!"

The boy was clearly in disarray considering his intonation speaking just now, however one of the things he spoke surprised them.

"What are you talking about? We're speaking Japanese right now," Kiriya spoken raising his eyebrow.

"Huh? Wait a minute, that can't be right! We're speaking plain old English right now! I would notice if we were speaking Japanese right now! …Though I've been trying to learn it through this amazing fast process so it's would be kinda cool if that were true…"

This was getting more puzzling. The boy is mentally fine, aside from memory problems, but there's no way he could be lying. Something is truly amiss here, a creature attacked him yet it dragged him to that area, his memory is stripped, and now he truly believed they're speaking in his language and yet something was off…

Apparently, all of the talking has aroused the brunette girl from her sleep as she began to stir and slowly lift her head from the bed where she was resting. Stretching her arms in the air, with one hand placed on her elbow as she stretched above her head and let out a gentle yawn before rubbing the sand from her eyes as she blinked a few times from her nap.

"Oh!" the young man let out surprised yelp and feeling a little ashamed for waking her up.

Everyone talked stopping as the young brunette shook her head and looked at the young man sitting up and awake from his slumber. At first, she didn't respond, then in a few seconds her mouth opened in surprise with her eyes widening in shock, and finally smiled and looked at the young man with gentle concern eyes at him.

"You're awake! Thank goodness!" the girl exclaimed joyously, happy that he's alive and awake now, "You had me very worried, with all those injuries. Are you alright? You're not in pain anymore?"

"Uh… I'm fine, I think. Nothing feels out of place, but I do feel a bit tired," the young man chuckled lightly trying to lighten the mood, "So you're the one who found me, right?"

"Yes!" the young girl smiled then blinked for a second and goes 'D'oh' to herself as she gently knocked on her head and sticked out her tongue rather childish… causing the young man's cheeks to heat up a bit at the sudden cuteness of her gesture, "Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Asuka! What's your name?"

The young man blinked for a moment.

"My name?"

The young man fought to recall his name, something so basic and simple and something that is common knowledge to him eluded him, as he placed both of his hands on his head.

"My name… it's Christopher… Chris… Chris um… wait, what's my last name? Ummm… I can't remember…"

Struggling and straining to recall anything more to him was frustrating and nerve-wrecking as his head became painful to him until a gentle hand placed itself on his shoulder and he turned to face the ponytailed brunette girl as she looked at him with sad eyes.

"It's alright. You don't need to strain yourself. It's no good to harm yourself to do so, so don't force yourself, OK?"

Just feeling the girl's concern hand on his shoulder and her sad face alienated his pain and he smiled back, "Sure."

Then a lightbulb went off in his head as he smacked his hand with the bottom of his fist as he recalled something about himself, "Oh! I remember now! My last name is… Corona… I think… was it? Wait no it is! Or was it something else? I'm not entirely too sure yet, but I do know I'm at least 18 years old right now. Or going to be soon enough…"

"You think?" Kiriya asked with a raised eyebrow.

The young man chuckled to himself, "Yeah, sorry… my memories aren't very clear on that right now. But for now, I'm Chris Corona! So, it's nice to meetcha Asuka! And thank you for saving me!"

Seeing a positive response from the young stranger they saved the doctor and nurse express relief to see him in better spirit, as well as Asuka smiling happily for him. Though he didn't show it as much the corners of Kiriya's lips curved slightly upward giving a faint smile before returning to the matter at hand.

"Very well, Chris… now let us resume our previous conversation," Kiriya cleared his throat to get everyone's attention as the young man returned his sights back on the older gentleman, "As you recall as much, you believe you were in your home country America but now find yourself here in Japan."

"Oh! That's right! Anyone got a calendar, I got to know what day it is!" the young man energetically asked, being a little frantic on how many days since passed his arrival in Japan.

The nurse quickly grabbed a nearby calendar, which unfortunately to the boy was in Japanese, and handed it to him as Asuka scrunched her eyes as she heard what Kiriya said just now. He's from America? That much is obvious, though she wasn't expecting him to have a somewhat hint of an Asian look… well sort of, but how did he get here to Japan from home? Especially with all those injuries and in the middle of the woods… where her and her classmates conduct their special classes.

"Huh?" the young man let out something quieter than a whisper but everyone still heard him as he looked at the calendar in his hands in shock, "How is this…? I can read Japanese?! But I can barely speak proper Japanese sentences and know only a handful of Japanese romaji words, but I didn't fully learn all of the characters! What's going on here?"

Everyone in the room blinked in confusion. Granted memory loss doesn't mean the loss of verbal and reading skills to an extent, but still there's some things a person can recall about themselves ever so slightly even if amnesia can affect it at times. So, his honest and genuine shock at this newest trait to him that he clearly shouldn't have is very shocking to him and it's scaring him…

"Wowzers, it's pretty cool I can read Japanese now! Don't know how, but this is awesome and really convenient! Guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

… for the most part.

"Wait… what is he talking about? Isn't he speaking perfect Japanese right now?" Asuka asked clearly confused about the whole thing. When did he wake up? What did she miss while she was asleep waiting for him to wake up to make sure he's injuries weren't severe and he'll be fine. She was really worried about him!

A total stranger found in the woods where she trained and with blood covering him, thankfully not all over the place and he wasn't drenched in it, though strangely the grass underneath him barely had any tainted red grass. And she had to admit to herself… his sudden enthusiastic burst and happy-yet-childish smile was kinda… cute.

"Apparently he believes everyone is speaking English to him even though he is clearly speaking Japanese to us. He recalls studying Japanese but has not yet mastered it," Kiriya explained to his young student.

"Huh?" Asuka was beside herself. How can that be? Did his amnesia cause more than memory loss to him? Though she's never had of amnesia giving people access to skills that didn't previously had before.

"That can't be right…" Chris muttered as he shook the calendar in his hands, "If I recall correctly, Japan is about a day ahead of America or where I live, so… it's the same day I went out and got attacked by… whatever that thing was!"

"Excuse me?" this time Kiriya was clearly caught off guard by this. He means to tell him that he was attacked, kidnapped, and brought to Japan and in those woods all in the same day, in less than a few hours no doubt? Preposterous. Normally such a thing wouldn't be possible and regarded as a far-fetched story, but if it involved one of them though this is a more serious and grave matter. The only thing that is truly puzzling is… Why?

Why attack this particular young man? Why kidnap him instead of… well luckily for him that never happened. Why bring him across the world and leave him a bloody mess in their woods? And was the same thing responsible for his odd ability to communicate with the folks here fluently? This worried Kiriya to no end.

"This doesn't add up… why me? What's going on here?" the young man sighed in discomfort as he brushed his hair with his right hand, "Also why do I feel… lighter? And different?"

Turning to his side, sat on top of a small drawer top, was a mirror and the young man looked in the glassy reflection and pulled back in surprising doing a double-take. "Huh, what in the…?"

"What's wrong?" Asuka asked surprised by his sudden action as he leaned in forward to the mirror checking his eyes and hair. He looked very confused.

"I think so! My hair and eyes… they're different!" he exclaimed as he ran his hand through his hair in disbelief. What the heck is going on here? First his memories are scrambled, his acquired new abilities, and now it appears his appearance has been altered!

"Different? What do you mean different?" Kiriya asked as he, once again, raised an eyebrow at this. There's more surprises to this young man than it seems.

"First of all, I have dark brown hair! Not pure jet-black hair… with these white highlights! I think they're natural too. However, I'm not even sure at this point anymore. I seemed to recall faintly remembering being mistaken with my brown hair before black… but I seemed to also recall my hair was always black with white highlights."

He squinted his eyes in annoyance. It was like he had two different sets of memories and he can't tell which is real or fake or if he's mixing up the order of the memories. It doesn't make a lick of sense to him.

"Not to mention, I sort of remember myself having chocolate brown eyes or maybe I really did have light blue eyes," the boy explained to them what he thought his original appearance looked like. "Ugh… my memories. I can't tell what's real anymore."

"Huh? Really?!" Asuka was quite shocked to hear that. It was one mystery after another with this boy, but in the back of her head she can't help but think how similar they would be if he retained his original appearance as they both have striking similar eye and hair color for the most part. Or was it his original self? He can't seem to trust his own memories at the moment and that's terrifying to Asuka.

Her heart was aching in pain for him.

"Well… I'm positive my memories are juggled up," the young man nodded slowly, "Though I'll admit… I don't mind if this is my original appearance or not. I like myself and look just fine as is. Not only that… my body is a little more toned than I recall. I think there's a memory where I wasn't particularly fit and had a bit of gut, but presently I look like the picture of good health and had worked out a bit." He noticed he was indeed leaner and slightly toned body than that vague blurred memory, but still maintained his slim and barely muscular arms.

Kiriya rubbed his chin after pondering all that has been said. He felt something in his very bones and within those intense eyes of his can only think… this isn't over yet for the strange boy, is it?

"I believe that's enough for today," the doctor stepped in, "I think we should give the young man more rest. Now that he's in a healthier state and no permanent damages, he should be good in a couple of days… given the boy's remarkable healing speed."

True, they were dumbfounded at the cause of his unbelievable healing factor of his body as his wounds almost instantly healed in a matter of minutes and were utterly surprised how uninjured he was interiorly. They took a blood sample of him and found no evidence that his DNA was tampered or otherwise tainted from its original roots, but clearly, they missed something. In short there was nothing really special about him biological and because of that they have no idea how he can heal faster than normal people and the only clue they had was the mysterious creature that attacked him.

"Come, Asuka," the nurse placed her hand on the young brunette's shoulder and smiled sweetly at the girl, "Visiting time is over for now so let's give him his rest, you can come back tomorrow to check up on him."

"Alright," Asuka nod sadly. She didn't want to leave him just yet having waited to make sure he was OK and aside from being mostly healthy his memories are in disarrange and wanted to do what she can to help him. He was lost and confused in a foreign land, snatched by some heartless fiend who clearly in her eyes did it for fun and that angered her.

Shaking those thoughts out of her head she turned toward the young man whom she's gotten acquaint with in such a short time, "I'll be back tomorrow after school to check up on you. So, get plenty of rest and listen to the nurse and doctor you hear? It's no good if you don't get better soon."

The young man smiled warmly at the girl, "Alright I will," he really was lucky to be found by such kind-hearted and good people… he couldn't imagine what would've become of him if they didn't happen upon him in his dire state, "Though I feel bad taking your time away from school. You probably have homework to do so don't rush your education for a stranger like me. Even though I appreciate it."

Now that he's taken a closer look at her she was wearing a school uniform until of what he vaguely recollected when she first found him. She donned a blue pleated skirt with a white button-up shirt to make a perfect fashion match between the colors of the clothes with the blue tie complementing the female uniform even more, but he noticed the same red bandana as a scarf still wrapped around her neck. He shyly looked away when he finally noticed her most… accommodating 'asset' of her young bountiful look and his cheeks glowing slightly red.

Mustn't look! Mustn't look! Mustn't look! I'm a good boy, I'm a good boy!

Asuka pouted her cheeks out and leaned in forward, "Even if you say it, I'm still going to come and visit you."

"Huh?" Chris, who was scratching the side of his head with a finger, paused and observed the girl, "But you don't have…"

"No good," the girl cut him off, "You don't have any way to contact your friends and family back home. Not to mention you're not sure what your family name is nor can you recall where you lived too and besides… wouldn't you get lonely without anyone to come see you?"

The young man couldn't make a counter argument to that, he was at a loss. True, even if he said Corona was his last name he was unsure if that was his true name and it could've been from something else, and deep down he can't recall what his family looked like at all and where he lived. And he really is alone right now… so it might not be too bad to have Asuka come visit him now and again.

"And besides," Asuka smiles, "We're friends now Chris-kun!"

Chris felt his cheeks heat up at the sheer cuteness of her smile and the way she looked at him. How could he possibly say 'No' to such a sweet girl who was willingly to go so far for a total stranger.

"…*Sigh* Alright, you win," the young man shook his head softly in defeat, thinking how completely unfair of her to use her utter cuteness to get him to submit to her request, "I surely can't stop you, can I?"

Happy with his answer Asuka smiles, "Good."

"Very well, we will discuss your options upon your release from the hospital in a few days," Kiriya spoke to the young man, "Until we find a solution to your problem you will be welcome to stay here with us."

"Thank you, sir!"

"Yamagata-san, might I have a word?" Kiriya turned to the direction of the doctor, who's name tag on his coat said 'Yamagata Sato' and going from the Japanese language, first name last and last name first, and nodded back at Kiriya. "Asuka, I'll see you back at school. I have some matters I need to discuss with Yamagata-san here."

The pretty brunette nodded at her teacher as she made her way to the exit, but not before waving goodbye to her new friend who waved back awkwardly and shyly as he wasn't really sure to say anything back to her or not. The girl smiled to herself, she's always happy to make a new friend and though she wished they met under different circumstances she was happy to get to know the young man before she left and he seemed really nice too! Perhaps he would love to try out her family's signature dish 'futomaki roll' and surely that would put a smile on his face.

"If there's anything you need, don't hesitant to call me with this button here," the dark haired ponytailed nurse pointed to the button on Chris' bed as the boy nodded back to her that he understood and the nurse smiled back at him.

With all that was said and done in the room, everyone left leaving the young man to his own thoughts. He sure was lucky they were nice people, but he can't help but feel like there's something missing. Just as the boy tries to get some rest… a ringing echoed in his head as his eyes sharper and gain an edgy look to them making him look very serious as he looks around the room.

He felt something. A dark presence. It was like second nature to him to detect it and it was very familiar too.

There's something nearby calling to him… and it felt like it's from outside.

"This is quite the problem," Kiriya sighed to himself as he gently caressed the side of his temple. Just a few doors away from Chris' room both Kiriya and Yamagata discuss in private about what they just learned from the boy, "If we take into account of the young man's story and the strangeness of it all… it would appear if a Yōma was responsible for the attack and dragging him."

Yōma.

It is the name of Japanese demonic beasts, monsters to simply say, and all come in many varieties to size, shape, race, and abilities. Little are known about these supernatural creatures in nature and origin and most are generally evil, with the few exceptions, and have a taste for human blood.

Why do these men know about such creatures and believe to be the cause of the problem? They fact is they belong to a special group of people that deal with many undercover and under the radar jobs and it roots back to ancient times. And this particular group is called… Shinobi, or more commonly referred to as Ninja. Mercenaries who covert under the night of darkness to aid in the better of their country by infiltration, sabotage, espionage, and sometimes 'assassination' but that has long since been abandon for these particular Shinobi to uphold.

Since time immemorial both the Shinobi and Yōma have clashed with one another and the Shinobi do their best to hold back the wicked Yōma.

Though he might not look like it Kiriya he is a Shinobi and among one of the best and has return to his school to become the next instructor for future Shinobi and Kunoichi, female ninja, alike and the girl that was with him is one of his students and granddaughter to the founder of their school who is known as the greatest Shinobi of the modern day. The doctor is not exactly a Shinobi but works with them as their private hospital is in reality a Ninja Hospital to nurse any and all Shinobi injury during their missions.

One of the many tasks that Shinobi are deployed to do is hunt trouble-making Yōma as only Ninja and their special training are capable of taking these mysterious supernatural monsters down. Nevertheless, only fully-fledged Shinobi are tasked with this as Ninja who are currently students are not permitted to engage them nor learn about their existence until graduation. Truthfully, Yōma activity have been scarce of late. So, the problem is… why now? And why leave the boy alive when Yōma generally kill humans? Yōma can be very cunning and crafty creatures but this action doesn't make much sense.

"It's been a long time since the last Yōma activity," the doctor rubbed his chin, "Though it is odd for a Yōma to leave a human alive even if he was supposed to be bait, it's highly improbable for them to launch an attack on the Hanzo students due to the Kekkai, ninja barrier, surrounding the training grounds."

"Yes, but even more so," Kiriya looked into the direction of the young man's room, "There's no way a Yōma could break through so easily, especially without me knowing."

Yamagata sighed, "Be that as it may, the problem here is that we have no guarantee the same Youma will not attack the young man again and so we need to protect him by constant surveillance him though we can't let him know it. And there's the matter of the housing arrangements as we cannot keep him here forever."

He is right. Even if they sent the boy back home, with or without his memories intact. He was attacked back home by a Yōma most likely and going back will surely endanger his life again, but they cannot protect him forever until they find this Yōma. There is no easy or simple solution to that matter Kiriya thought, however…

Kiriya once again looked at the boy's room. One idea had occurred to him but it was… unsound to say the least. Even if it was a logical solution it was still a highly inappropriate matter for an elite Ninja to take, but he cannot find a perfect answer for their dilemma and one without the young man suspecting a thing plus he is aware of something 'non-human' attacked him already and there's no way he'll write it off as some wild animal.

"Kiriya-san?" Yamagata called out to his associate breaking the ash-gray hair man's train of thoughts as he looks back to him.

"There is…"

*BA-BUMP*

Without warning a chill filled the air for a split second but enough to alert both Kiriya and Yamagato at this malice presence and came to one conclusion. Looking back at each other and with a simply nod the two ran back into the young man's room.

Chris looked back and forth outside the window feeling the sudden chill from earlier out there, a very familiar presence that made his body tremble in fear and angry, and only by the sound of the door opening behind him took him out of his trans and looked back surprisingly at Kiriya-sensei and Yamagata-san coming in with concern and worried looks etched onto their faces.

They surely couldn't have felt the same presence.

"Kiriya-san? Yamagata-san? Is something the matter?" the black-haired young man asked, not sure if they would believe him of some 'dark presence' in the room. He was lucky they believe him with his memory loss and his newly acquired abilities as they were the truth.

"Chris, you haven't noticed anything strange, have you?" Kiriya was the one to ask this, a moment before entering the room he noticed that the young man was looking around his room with suspicious and oddly felt a strange 'feeling' emitting from the boy.

"EH? You felt it too!?" he blurted out. Well he just blew that discussion out of the water after he decided to keep it to himself a few seconds ago. Though he was wondering how Kiriya and the doctor could feel this presence as well or it might be like with most people sensing danger and nothing special like himself after surviving a near-death experience.

Kiriya narrowed his eyes, not just the fact that a dangerous presence was lurking about, but this young man was able to sense it immediately as well. Yōma are adapt at hiding their presence just as well as Shinobi and most ordinary citizens wouldn't be able to pick up on them, yet this young man did.

"How long ago did you felt something was amiss?" the dark suit gentleman asked the young man, there's something he needed to confirm.

"Hmm? Well a short while ago after everyone left the room. Why do you ask?" the young man answered back with a pondering look with his index and thumb on his chin.

Blinking in surprise Kiriya looked back at the young man with a slight astonished gleam in his eyes. He is a master Shinobi and one of the best in his areas, aside from the legendary Shinobi that founded the school where he taught his students, and he wasn't able to pick up on this presence until a while ago and could tell it was here for some time now.

But here, an inexperience and regular person with possibly no Shinobi background was able to detect this dark menace even before Kiriya himself. The older gentleman couldn't help but think this young man has great potential, but he'll worry about that later as more pressing matters need to be address first.

"Young man, do you happen to know where the source of this… uneasiness, you're feeling right now?" Kiriya wasn't sure how to address the matter to a non-Shinobi without alerting him. Telling him right now would create more problems than solve them, and even if he told him it was a Yōma he needed to be careful what to say to not frighten the boy with stating it would be the same predator from before.

The young man sighed a bit, "Sir, I'm not sure how much of the situation I understand where I'm from, but the 'uneasiness' you're talking about… it's the same thing that attacked me isn't it? I could tell it's the same one because my body remembers it." Was it a good idea to say this?

Kiriya blinked at his analysis. He's more astute than he gives him credit for as for, "So you are aware. Hmm… I originally didn't want to alarm you, but that's moot point now. We'll search the premises to locate the intruder. I'll be here to make sure it doesn't come any closer to you."

Kiriya nodded to the doctor to go call the rest of their employees to search every perimeter in the immediately area to locate and detain the beast that was lurking about. However, this puzzled Kiriya as the hospital is protected by a Kekkai and somehow this same creature bypass with relative ease and without setting off the alarm and only made itself apparent as it reached its target's location.

The more he thought about it the more puzzling it became. The creature made it all the way here and could finish what it started but choose not to. Not only that, Kiriya could tell this Yōma is giving off its aura purposely to let everyone know it was here but why would it do that? What benefit will this creature achieve for doing such an abnormal thing?

Kiriya continued to feel out the creature's presence but what originally was the detecting of the creature and rushing into its victim's room now the whole hospital and perimeter has the creature's aura making it seem like its everywhere at once. Even for Kiriya this was most troubling and he couldn't pinpoint the beast, how could it be everywhere yet nowhere while giving off its existence like this? Not even the greatest Shinobi of all was capable of that!

What exactly is this Yōma? What does it want?

Slightly confused about what's going on here, Chris just eyed back and forth between Kiriya and the door the doctor left. Wondering if the security here would be able to handle whatever it was that attacked him before, but they are more equipped than he was with dealing with threats and so he put his faith in them.

Sighing as he had to wait, feeling slightly irritated and impatient about doing nothing but wait, he looks to the floor and his eyes bolted with astoundment upon what he saw. "What the…? How'd those get here!?"

Kiriya lost his train of thought at the sudden rise in Chris' voice and looked to what discerned him and noticed several bags on the ground, a blue backpack and a few black gym bags that were filled to the maximal capacity given how ready they look to burst.

How do those get here without my notice? Kiriya felt rather uneasiness about it.

The young man looked curiously at them and then shouted with glee, "Hey! I know those… those are MY bags! But what are they doing here, I don't remember packing my stuff." He walked out of his bed and goes to his bags and opened them up before Kiriya could stop him and inside he pulled out a device.

"Yeah! My 3DS, now I won't be bored while I'm waiting to be discharged from here, but it looks like everything from my room is in my bags. Why is that? Don't tell me whatever it was that attacked me also ransacked my house, too!?" worried and fear etched into his expression as he thought of the worst possible situation.

Now this kept on adding to the confusion, the Yōma apparently went to the young man's house back in his home country and stole his possessions and brought it to him here? Kiriya could not make heads or tails of this, first it attacks him, then drops him near a Ninja school, and delivers his possessions to him as if to help him move to a new home.

But the most freighting thing about all this was… this Yōma was already in this room, but since when? There was no forced entry or any sign of anyone sneaking in and given how this thing is letting everyone know it was here right now just makes the situation even more disoriented. It could've attacked Chris once again but choose not to.

Kiriya rubbed his chin in deep thought, very troubling and frightening. What does this Yōma ultimately want Kiriya wants to know.

"Kiriya-san," Yamagata Sato returned to the room with a worried expression as he approached his colleague, "We've searched everywhere in the building and outside but we were unable to find the intruder, but we know it's still here. The presence hasn't left yet."

Kiriya was afraid of that, but this Yōma is choosing not to attack and is simply waiting for something but what?

"Um… I'm not sure if my opinion matters, but are you sure you checked everywhere?" the young man spoke up causing the two older men to look at him as he returns to his bed, "I've been feeling that presence coming from outside and around that tree there, but I can't seem to find it anywhere but I don't know but I can tell it's there."

Kiriya once again narrowed his eyes and hardened his stoic grim-looking face. He knows exactly where it is? He has a rare gift of sensitivity regarding this matter. Kiriya is an experienced Shinobi with many years of experience under his belt, but even his sensory abilities aren't as precise as this young man.

"Huh? That's weird, now it feels like the presence is… strange, it's like its shifting one part of itself to another while somehow staying on one spot," Chris tiled his head in bewilderment trying to understand why.

"Shifting?" Kiriya raised his eyebrow, "Can you clarify what you mean by that?"

The young man tilted his head to his head pondering the best way to explain this, "I'm not sure how to best explain it, but I guess it's like it can be in two places at once?"

"Really?" Yamagata spoke up as he heard the boy explained his reasoning, "That seems… very unlikely? Then again nothing is quite normal about this situation."

"Yeah," Chris agreed with him as he did his best to feel out where this presence's 'energy signature' was wondering about. Narrowing his eyes as he looked to be following an invisible trail until his eyes nested on the table nearby, "Um… what that letter always there?"

Both the older gentleman and doctor looked over to where Chris was staring and noticed what he meant. It was a strange black letter and it seemed to glow with a strange energy unlike anything Kiriya has seen before. As the ash gray haired man walked over to the table and picked up the letter the intense feeling Chris was sensing in the air subdued.

Even Kiriya was aware of this and everyone noticed… the intruder was now gone. After coming to do what it wanted here it left which was baffling to say the least. They were left with a black letter with dark energies around it. Did the Yōma really left a message for them? Did it write it, itself? No Yōma has shown such levels of cunning and intelligent before.

The boy looked at the demonic letter with a perplexing expression, "Um… so what exactly is this about? Do you think that… creature… wrote it? What is it for?"

"I shall take a look at it," Kiriya replied without looking back at the young man as he carefully opened the dark letter. The strange energy of the letter disappeared after he opened it.

Upon unfolding the content of the letter Kirya had an unfathomable look in his face as he noticed right away what this was.

A threat and a request.

However, that wasn't what ailed him, but he read what the hidden message was, how intelligent was this Yōma supposed to be any way? The message read as;

Train him to be a Shinobi. If you don't compel I'll use your school as my hunting grounds and you don't want anything to happen to the students, right? Even outside could be fun too. And it would be a shame if the boy's family were harmed in any way.

Kiriya trembled a little bit. For this Yōma to threaten him the way it just did, this was a foe not to be taken lightly. At the same time requesting him to train the young man before him to be a Shinobi. Surely this creature was aware that Shinobi are the only beings nowadays that can truly defeat Yōma and basically to Kiriya this Yōma was asking him to train his own killer?

But the most incomprehensible thing about this, unless Kiriya gives into its demands it will attack his students and also the normal students at the Academy something that Kiriya would normally not allow. He thinks of his students as his own and wishes not to endanger them if he could help it. He also understood the hidden meaning behind this hidden message… it will attack Chris Corona again and again whether he was a Shinobi or not.

The only good thing about this message would seem that Chris' family is alright as this Yōma hasn't brought harm to them, but was that really true? It is a Yōma? But it is one of the most strangest ones that Kiriya has ever heard of.

Chris is most definitely not from a Shinobi family given the context of the predicament he was in. However, training him to become a Shinobi is the only way for him to defend himself against this Yōma, but at the same time it's not a simple matter that could be discussion over one night. However, on the other hand, if Kiriya doesn't decide soon his students and the boy's family could be endangered and not something he wished to come to pass and there's no telling when it will attack again.

Kiriya decided it's best to discussion this matter with the most trusted and influence person he knew, the founder of the Hanzo Intentional Academy himself. Sighing he stuff the dark letter turned normal in his jacket pocket and proceeded to leave as night has fallen already.

"I will be going, there's someone I need to speak with. Yamagata-san, please watch over Corona-san until I get back and keep me posted," Kiriya looked back at Yamagata Sato, who was wondering what Kiriya read on the paper that seemed to involve the young man, with an understanding nod as he must relay the Yōma's message.

"Um…," the young man tried to call out to Kiriya however the older gentleman looked back at him with a small smile on his face.

"There's nothing to worry about. I'll handle the matter concerning your predicament so stay here and rest up," Kiriya said as he made his way out the door but stopped for a minute, "And the message the intruder left behind states that your family is safe. No harm has come to them."

Relaxing his face and some of the paleness going away, from imagining the worst-case scenario for his family back home, the black-haired youth smiled with gratitude, "T-Thank you!"

Giving the lad with last reassuring smile Kiriya-san left the room and soon his face is replaced with a grim and displeasing look.

Dark days are ahead of them.

In the deepest part of the forest outside of the city under the full moon night and on top of a small cliff overlooking the city, a hooded figure sat upon a rock as this figure looked on with a crooked smile.

Under the guise of his pure white cloak with an odd pattern with black shades arc into thorns or lightning he looks up to the moon with half of his face hidden but only his smile could be seen.

"Things are finally underway, I was wondering when this show would get onto the road," he said to no one in particular as he stretched his arms up into the air in a relaxing and nonchalant manner. However, his crooked smile turned sour as his rested his fingers on his temple.

"However, I have to give credit when credit's due even if it does complicate my goals," he growled in a low tone, "Bbbuuut… this does help some parts of my overall plans so I can't be too mad about it. Though I bet your plan to suppress his memories didn't go as planned my foolish monster buddy."

He got up off of the boulder and walked closer to the edge of the cliff, "But that creature really is annoyingly smart. I know part of the reason for sending him to that Shinobi Academy place, though whether it was its original plan or not, I don't really care, but not it has it to prepare him to hinder me in the future."

"You irritating irksome creature, however I am thankful as I want him to become stronger too. So, in the end you're helping me even if at the same time you're hindering me so I'll concede for the time being and bind my time… I know currently I'm no match for you but I'll grow in strength very soon so just you wait."

The cloaked man looked at the city with a sinister smile as he lifted his hand up with the city in the distance to appear to fit in the palm of his hand, "Though I look forward the battles yet to come and see how he develops. And I look forward to fighting you as well beast as I know you wish for my eradication," he clasped his hand 'crushing' the city in his palm.

"But either you or I have any love for this world and do what we please, but rest assured I'm the one who's going to destroy YOU and Chris! The fate of this world is a cruel one indeed," he cackled evilly to himself as his eyes peer from underneath the hood as he looked forward pass the city.

His glowing yellowish-orange eyes and white pupils pry into a world beyond despair.

Asuka hummed cheerily as she headed over to the hospital to see her newest friend she made the other day with a white plastic bag in her hands swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Inside of that bag were homemade futomaki rolls from her family's sushi restaurant and she made it herself. She's giddy with joy upon hearing that he will be release today from the hospital showing that he has made a full recovery. Even if he was supposed to be leaving in two days' time. It seemed like they moved it a day ahead.

Regardless, the pretty brunette couldn't help but feel happy for him, but he might not have a place to stay due to his current conundrum but is more than happy to let him stay at her family's place until he got back on his feet.

She giggled like a high school girl that she is as at the thought of sharing lunch she made for a boy she met and felt like an actual teenage girl until of a Kunoichi. She doesn't quite understand why she felt this way about a boy she just met but she could tell he's a sincere and sweet boy and that's probably why. She'll be able to have a normal conversation with a boy outside of her family and it made her kinda excited to think about.

Though she's curious why Kiriya wanted to talk to her before greeting her new and first true male friend in her life and told her to meet with him outside of Chris' room to discuss something of importance. Perhaps it might be something related to his predicament, but why did he mention to keep it a secret and not tell her fellow classmates?

Shaking her head and push those thoughts out of the way, she'll worry about it when she crossed that bridge, she entered through the hospital doors into the building and headed to the elevator and pressed the buttons to the floor that her new friend was on.

Thinking about him she was curious why she was so concerned about him so much after only knowing him for about a day. True she hasn't made a lot of contract with a lot of males before and wasn't sure how to talk to them at times as they seem busy ogling other areas of her body and must keep a distance around them at school as her chosen professional is the path of a ninja, a kunoichi in her case.

Sure, he was in the woods that she and her fellow classmates trained to be ninjas and founding him in such a state she couldn't just leave him as he was and wanted to help him. After getting to know him and learning about his amnesia she couldn't help feel sorry for him and wanted to be by his side until he got better. Ha! That must be it, why she's so concerned about her new boy fri… I mean friend who happened to be a boy!

And she doesn't actually have a best friend and though she most likely preferred to have a female best friend she doesn't mind having a male best friend as well. Even if he was one year older than her and he is very kind it seems, not to mention his little enthusiastic from before was quite charming and couldn't stop giggling about it… and he is quite cute too.

Asuka shyly shook her head at such thoughts right away as her cheeks are painted red. They just met and yet she's having such thoughts about him like that already? Well she did find him cute that's true, but what if…? No, surely, she's over-thinking it. Though she couldn't help but think it.

"Asuka, you're here," a voice called out her.

Breaking from her thoughts at the calm sound of her teacher's voice, Asuka looked up to see Kiriya-sensei waiting for her inches away from Chris's room. She was so busy with her thoughts surrounding a certain young man that she failed to realize she was on autopilot and moved closer to Chris' room and without noticing she was inches away from her teacher as well.

"Kiriya-sensei," the buxom beauty let out a whispering squeal upon noticing her stoic teacher and backed away shyly and embarrassing. Huffing out her cheeks cutely as she glanced at her teacher annoyingly, "Geez, don't surprise me like that sensei!"

Raising his eyebrow at his student's brash and awkward scolding, the instructor dismissed the thought and continued with his original conversation, "Asuka, do you know why I asked you to meet with me before seeing our amnesia friend."

Tilting her head curiously she doesn't have the faintest idea why Kiriya-sensei wanted to talk to her again and shook her head to let the instructor know what's on her mind.

Closing his eyes for a moment, the grim-faced elderly man rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingertips before directly asking the young brunette a rather serious question.

"Asuka," he looked to her with intense eyes, "How would you feel having a new classmate joining you and the others as another shadow in the night?"

"Huh?" was what the buxom young lady said at first as she's puzzled what Kiriya meant by that. They're getting a new student for their extracurricular class already? It took a moment to realize what Kiriya was telling her and they're standing a few feet away from a certain young man's room that Asuka has become fast friends with.

Donning at the conclusion she came upon, Kiriya-sensei couldn't possible mean…? Was he really seriously!? Why would he have her newest friend become a Ninja? Though she'd be happy to have another fellow classmate to join her so she can't complain, but was he from a Ninja family? It didn't seem likely and is it alright to include an outsider like this into the program without a moment's hesitance? Isn't that against the rules, too?!

Her head was spinning with this information processing in her mind and she wasn't sure what to make of it. On one hand she will gain a new friend and classmate to talk and train with, even if that friend is one of the opposite sex, but on the other he would be exposed too much danger in their profession and she didn't want to see him hurt again.

"W-w-w-wait a minute!" Asuka spoke up with her arms flapping about and her eyes scrunched up, "Is this really a good idea? I mean I wouldn't mind having a new friend and fellow classmate in the same year as me, but will he be OK with it? What if something worse happens to him if he joins?"

Kiriya placed his hands firmly and gently on his pupil's shoulders to relax her as she looks up to his eyes upon her instructor's contract, "I understand your concern, but the situation… demands he is well-equipped to defend himself."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems whatever attacked him in the first place is lurking about still and it would be prudent for him to learn the ways of the Ninja to defend himself against this threat," Kiriya addressed the issue to his student as her goes twisted into horror upon hearing the creature that attacked him is still around as she gasped. Also, unfortunately, he has to keep the secret of being a Yōma as students are not allowed to learn about them until they finish their third year. However, Asuka is going to be an exception to that rule soon enough.

"That and he seems to have a very unique ability that goes far beyond what most young Shinobi are capable at first and something that takes many years to master."

Asuka is surprised at this. It seemed like her new friend has a special skill that is very suited for being a Shinobi despite not originating from a Ninja family himself. Though with his memory loss it was just the default assumption or someone setting him on that path beforehand. However…

"But… can't we do something about whatever it is that's hunting him?" the buxom kunoichi didn't like the thought of some creature hunting and harming her new friend for pleasure especially after it attacked such a sweet boy and stripped him of his past already.

The black-suited man pursed his lips and dryly sighed. "I'm afraid that doesn't seem likely. This 'creature', which I'll talk to you later about, is bold enough to reveal its presence at a Ninja hospital with a Shinobi present and cunning to avoid being found even with such a seasoned Shinobi. Only our young friend was able to detect it first and find a general fix where it was but to no avail we couldn't find it even though that it was nearby."

The bountiful girl blinked in shock. Even her Sensei wasn't able to locate this fiend yet her new friend did without any prior Shinobi experience beforehand? However, what was more pressing and alerting was the fact that this 'creature' as Kiriya-sensei has stated was able to come close to the hospital where her new friend was and her master didn't pick up on it earlier and never found it.

Asuka tilted her head to the ground as she scrunched her eyes in sadness. If there were true, then her new friend wasn't safe anywhere he went and so the most logical conclusion is to train him as a Shinobi as Kiriya-sensei recommended. Her fists trembled in angry, she hated how her new friend was being hunted by this thing and wanted to find it herself to stop it from harming Chris-kun or worse for its own amusement. She wanted to protect him.

I cannot tell her about the threat that creature demanded either, needless worry will affect their training and morale, Kiriya thought to himself as he reminisced the message that Yōma left them via the dark letter that Chris' sensory ability was able to spot first.

Steeling herself Asuka looked at Kiriya-sensei's face as she nodded with a clear conviction in her eyes, "Alright. I'll train with Chris-kun so we can become great Shinobi together and so I can protect him from this fiend that hunts him myself!"

Not the answer he was hoping for, but the stoic teacher slightly smiled at his student's confident, "We don't know if he'll agree to it at first, but this is a grave matter and we will do our best to protect him until this menace is dealt with. But for now, don't concern yourself with the matter of this creature and continue your Shinobi training as usual. As well as keeping the creature a secret from the others. Your grandfather's orders."

"But…!"

"Let us go greet our patient now," Kiriya-sensei quickly said as he headed for Chris' room first and Asuka frantically tagged along trying not to trip over her two feet.

The young man is up and about and looked at the window where a couple of blue birds sat on top of branch and did some singing as the boy smiled amiably at them. Listening to his own private concert. Asuka noticed his sweet expression on his face as he watched the birds and can't help but giggle to herself which in turn alerted the boy to their presence and turned his head around.

Surprised at first, he smoothly smiled at them as Kiriya pulled up a chair and sat near the side of Chris's bed as Asuka reached into her bag.

"Good morning Asuka, good morning Kiriya. What can I do for you this evening?" the young man replied happily. It felt nice to have visitors and people to talk here despite all the craziness he went through the other day.

"Good afternoon Chris-kun!" Asuka smiled happily as she presents Chris with a black box, "I've brought you some futomaki rolls!"

"Futomaki rolls?"

"Yup! It's my family's specialty," Asuka said with pride as she puffed out her chest and slapped her chest as she did, unknowingly causing the young man to blush slightly as the 'motion' of her salute, "Go ahead, try it!"

Not one to refute someone's offering of food, especially after the trouble she went to delivering it to him, he nodded and took the black box from her and opened it to see a black seaweed wrap roll with various sushi stuffed in it and he looked at it curiously.

Giving a slight frown at the boy as Asuka pouted a little, "Is there something wrong?"

Noticing that he angered her by accident he frantically waved his hands back and forth to calm her down, "No… no! I-It's just that… I've never tried something like this before… can I really eat it?"

Asuka shook her head at his silliness and nodded at him, smiling. No turning back now as he took a bite out of the sushi roll the girl went through the trouble of getting for him. Slowly chewing on the futomaki tasting the soft seaweed wrapping and juicy sushi pieces with vegetable bits throw in as well eyes twitch at first that the new sensation in shock and bewilderment.

"Eh?! What's wrong? D-Don't tell me… was it no good!?" Asuka started to panicked upon seeing her companion with her eyes watering up a bit thinking her food displeased him.

"DELICOUS!!!"

"Eh?"

The young man happily munched away with sparkles in his glowing eyes with childish enthusiasm, "I've never tasted anything like this! I can't stop eating, please tell me you have more!"

Happy that he enjoyed her meal Asuka smiled, giggling at this cute display, thinking how adorable he is with his honesty and enthusiasm, "I'm glad you like it, don't worry I brought extras just in case. I'm glad the futomaki rolls I made didn't go to waste."

"Hm?" He paused after taking another bite of the futomaki roll upon hearing those words, "You made these? You didn't buy them? You actually went out of your way to make me some rolls?"

"Hehehe, yup! My family runs a sushi shop so it's our specialty and the futomaki rolls are my absolute favorite," Asuka beamed with glee as she pressed her fingers together happily.

"Wow… thank you so much!" Chris replied happily once he learned that Asuka went out of the way to make him something to eat, though come to think of it was it alright with the hospital for patients to have outside food? Regardless he smiled sweetly at her as he continued to eat unaware of Asuka staring at him bemusedly.

After waiting for the two to finish their little conversation Kiriya cleared his throat to get their attention while Chris continued to finish munching on the roll. As he turned his attention to the man sitting across from him. A difficulty expression for the boy to read on the older gentleman's face made it hard for him to think what is it that he was to talk about since it looks very serious judging by his stern look.

"I'll get right to the point," Kiriya said as he stared directly at Chris as he munches on the futomaki roll delightfully and hungrily as the boy in question looked at him with anticipation and curiosity.

"Young man… how would you like to become a Ninja?"

Upon hearing those words, the young man blinked at first expectantly. Then eyes widen in disbelief, almost dropping his futomaki roll, as he mustered the only word that was perfect for this situation.

"… Huh?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

*Character Info - Chris*

Name: Christopher Corona (? – True Family Name Unknown)

Birthdate: May 26th (Gemini)

Age: 17 (going to be 18 in a few weeks in-story)

Bloodtype: Type-A

Hair Color: Dark Brown (Previously?), Jet Black with White Highlights (Currently)

Eye Color: Chocolate Brown (Previously?), Bright Light Blue (Currently)

Height: 162.56cm (5' 4") (Previously? (5'9"))

Measurements: Not recorded

Weight: 167lbs (Previously? (189lbs))

Ninja Animal: Unknown

Hobby: Drawing, Reading, Adventuring, Hanging Out, Goofing Off, Playing Video Games

Favorite Food: Bacon Cheeseburger

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*Character Info - Asuka*

Name: Asuka

Birthdate: September 8th (Virgo)

Age: 17

Bloodtype: Type-A

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Hazel

Height: 155cm (5' 1")

Measurements: B90-W57-H85

Weight: Not recorded

Ninja Animal: Frog

Hobby: Training

Favorite Food: Futomaki

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*Character Info - Kiriya*

Name: Kiriya

Birthdate: May 5th (Taurus)

Age: 40

Bloodtype: Type-A

Hair Color: Silver

Eye Color: Brown

Height: 185cm

Measurements: Not recorded

Weight: Not recorded

Ninja Animal: Unknown

Hobby: Training Students

Favorite Food: Beans