1 World's Far Apart

"The continent of Ifone is split into two sections. The first, of course, is Aprana, where we and the rest of the humans live. As you should know by now, the other half is Pemos. While the other side is Pemos, the land of the monsters. While we are naturally weaker than those things, we do have a way to defend ourselves! With the lifeblood of the world known as Kata, we have a chance to fight back! Now if you would please listen to our lesson on- Tsuji! Where are you going?"

A young man with silky black hair got up from his seat, causing him to gain the attention of his fellow classmates. For the most part, he always seemed fairly quiet, not even perking up in class when called upon. But today seemed different. The reason is unknown to even his instructor.

Tsuji Masahiro, one of the many students that attended the academy, his attire was typical of a student within the school. A uniform and shoes befitting such though he had customized it a little to his liking. He wasn't what one could describe as the most social person, at least within the confines of the school. Though it wasn't as if many decided to bring themselves to him, thus he'd stay back instead of trying to stick out. There wasn't much to gain in being known in his eyes anyways.

"Everyone knows about the two halves already. Even a baby could see the borders at the edge of this side. And what's the point of learning about Kata? We can't even learn it if we're not in the military. Class ends in about two minutes, anyway."

More words attempted to escape the boy's mouth, though before he could say them, he forcefully tightened his jaw. Trapping what would be said next within the crevices of his own mind forever.

While the instructor would have preferred if the boy stayed in class until it was truly time to leave, there wasn't much he could do. He wasn't the type who liked to reprimand his students much, even if they chose to do him wrong.

The class wasn't always the most enjoyable use of his time, but it allowed him to know more about the world he lived in. It'd be better if they taught more new material, but as of right now it'd put anyone to sleep.

This display was especially unusual for someone like Tsuji. Then again, it wasn't exactly as if he enjoyed making a scene. But he had somewhere important to be soon, or at least that's what he told himself. Could his friends be considered super important? He'd figure that out later.

Minutes had passed and the trek from the school to where he was supposed to be was long, even for him. Squinting his eyes, Tsuji tried to see the gate that stood on the edge of the village. It was an unusual meeting spot, especially for the two of his friends. Usually, they wanted to hang out at his house. But they said that today was different for some reason.

There was no one in the area. Vacant spots filled the locations where his friends had agreed to meet up at. Only one thought was able to break its way into Tsuji's mind at that moment. Had they not come yet? Turning his head to the top of the gate, there layed a clock which gave an easy entry point into the time for all residents of the village. Currently, it was 3:31.

There was something off about the time that he had just read that incited an uneasy sensation to sweep through his body in an instant. Mita and Koga had both told him to get here by 4:30, which only meant one thing. He was an hour early. His eyes widened at the realization and it took everything within him to not begin beating himself up. How could he make such a simple mistake? When he saw them, there was no way that he could tell the two of them about it. Their laughs and jabs would never end at that rate.

"There's no use in waiting here. It'd just end up being bored at that rate. I better get home. Mom won't let me hear the end of it if I'm not back soon."

The all too familiar feeling of having to rush home in a certain amount of time was not out of the ordinary for Tsuji. In most cases, he would be out with his friends so much that by the time he realized it was time to get home, then it'd be too late. Luckily, this was one of the few times that he had leeway in that regard. Though he didn't know how long it'd last.

Rushing through the door of his home, the creaking sounds of the hinges and the force he had used to open it alerted his mother to the door almost immediately. She had already been within her room awaiting Tsuji's return, but this simply made things easier. The boy had assumed that he made good time on returning home. It barely took him a few minutes.

Glaring at him, a woman barked, "Where have you been all this time? School ended for you over twenty minutes ago!"

"Listen mom I-"

Each word that came out of the disgruntled woman's mouth only seemed to grow fiercer and had more rage put into it than the last. "Were you out with those two again? I thought I told you they were a bad influence."

"I just got lost on the way here. You don't have to get so mad all the time. It's not like my life needs to be confined to the house and school. Not like I have many places to go. The village is small anyway. It's not as if we're living in the capital or anything." The boy spoke with a defeated tone.

"It doesn't matter where we live, it's about discipline…" The woman spoke with a disappointing outlook, it was clear from her voice.

"I know that. You tell me that all the time." Tsuji spoke without a hint of care, he had been given this talk so many times it almost became routine. But it always stung just as much.

Tsuji's posture shifted, almost seeming to shrink in size, in front of the opposing force that was his mother. A singular drop of sweat began to form on his cheek. He was already anticipating what she had to say next. It's like they could never see eye to eye sometimes. It was starting to get a little annoying.

"You need discipline and practice to fight in the military. You know that, right?" The woman questioned with concern.

"I know mom, can you stop repeating that all the time? If I'm gonna start fighting monsters, then I need to be ready, I know." Tsuji spokes with hints of annoyance from the words of his mother.

"If you knew that, then shouldn't you be more focused on your studies, and actually training? But all you do is laze around with your friends all day. If you keep this up, all you're gonna do is die out there. And I don't wanna see that." The woman face only showed disappointment as a result of Tsuji's refusal.

"If I get into the military, wouldn't they just teach me anti-monster techniques? Why are you so worried about me in school, with what I do? It's my life and not yours so-" Every word from Tsuji only grew in anger from how his mom refused to let up on him.

"Tsuji!" The rage within her voice rang through the house resonating inside of Tsuji's very soul.

The boy's words came to a complete stop because of the way that his mom raised her voice at him. It only happened a few times in his life but whenever he was at the tail end of it, that meant that things weren't going to go well for him.

"The acception rate for the military is terrible. Freich only accepts the best of the best. Do you know how many people I've seen try to fail. How many people go out there and never come back because they were overconfident. And though they could easily fight against monsters. Why can't you ever just listen to me? Why do you always have to make things difficult?"

Every word from the boy's mother seemed as if it would be her last. Tears had begun to well up within her eyes from the conversation at hand. Things didn't get this bad most of the time. At worst Tsuji would just be sent to his room. But he had never seen her cry… Knowing that he was the cause of what happened to his mother had caused an emotion Tsuji had never experienced too well up within him.

"Look…I'll prove my worth and get scouted and then I'll come back and show you that I can do it. Seems like thats the only thing that would get you to listen." The only thing that could be felt coming from his words were regret, regret that couldn't be quelled.

Turning around, Tsuji had already begun making the trek through the door and out of the house. Staying inside would only make the situation get worse and it was only a few minutes before his friends actually wanted to meet him. Maybe it could take his mind off things.

"Tsuji wait, I-"

Despite the desperate woman's pleas, he had already made it out the door and was making the trek to the gate across the city. Even if he heard what his mother had to say, he couldn't bring himself to listen. At least not for right now.

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Tsuji's friends had already been waiting for him near one of the gates to the village. They said that they had wanted to show him something unique this time around. But honestly, he did not know what the two of them were talking about.

"Mita, Koga! I'm surprised you guys were here this long, took me about ten minutes to get here."

"We almost left without you, but being the great friends we are, we decided to stay."

Tsuji's face slowly morphed into a frown as he began to process what Mita had just said to him. He couldn't believe it. Maybe he was hearing things wrong. It happens to even the best of the best sometimes.

"You two? Good friends? That's pushing it, I'd say you two are at the bottom in that regard."

Mita, who had been too wrapped up in her own confidence, didn't register what had been said by Tsuji until a few seconds had passed. And upon recognizing it, veins seemed as if they would pop out of her face.

"Hey! Don't say that. You don't just say your only friends aren't up there! Who else do you have that does cool stuff with you? Go on, I'm waiting."

Tsuji's eyes turned to the side in order to avoid facing Mita. His mouth returned to a more neutral state. Mita was always the aggressive type, but at least it was all in good fun. He hoped.

"Well, anyway, what did you two want to meet up here for, anyway? Isn't this the place that the military comes in at? I thought they were on an expedition?"

"Yeah, but they're keeping monsters from coming through the border. They won't be back for a few days at least. Also, Tsuji are you doing ok? You look kind of pale. Have you lost weight?"

" Yeah, I'm alright. I'm just a bit dazed. But anyway, the Military's always out stopping monsters from getting through the border. I wonder if I could get up there one day. Maybe I can."

Tsuji was still greatly confused by what Mita was saying. Why would they need to meet up here for something that didn't even involve them. It didn't make any sense.

"With the military gone, there's no one to interrupt us."

A chill went up the boy's spine. From the sudden intrusion from Koga, he'd been so quiet that he almost forgot that he was there at all.

"You can't just creep up on me like that, man. Besides, what do you mean no one would be able to interrupt us."

"Well."

Mita reached from behind her, grasping a book that seemed to be hidden somewhere Tsuji couldn't see. Engraved on the cover were the words "Basics of Kata."

Tsuji's confusion had only been exceeded by the sheer level of shock that rushed through his body the moment that he had seen the book. While he had only heard of Kata vaguely in class before, there was one thing for certain. If he could just get the book and understand it. Maybe he could fight the monsters on the other side of the border.

"How'd you even get something like that? I thought those were only in military training facilities?"

"Well, I trailed behind the general the other day and he ended up leaving the book on the counter in the bar after he got too drunk. Sooooooo, I stole it."

"Are you crazy! What are we supposed to do if they find out you stole it? That's treason!"

Sweat dripped down the woman's face as she fully realized the ramifications of what she had done. But she couldn't show that to Tsuji and Koga. Then what would they think of her? And it's not as if she could just return it. At least not for a few days.

"Don't worry, I'll give it back the next time the generals are in town, but until then, we should be able to learn some of the stuff in here."

"Knowing you, I doubt you'd remember to return it, anyway. You aren't really the sharpest tool in the shed, you know."

"I doubt she's in the shed at all from the way that she acts sometimes. Did she ever tell you that she forgot her own birthday one time?"

Mita's hand bawled into a fist as Koga tried to explain the story to Tsuji. It was one that she had planned to keep under wraps. Especially from him.

"Shut up! It was one time!"

A chuckle escaped Tsuji's mouth from how Mita tried to defend herself from Koga's accusations.

'So if I can make good use of this book I'd be able to use Kata. The same thing the general and guards use when they're out protecting the border. Does that mean I could fight monsters too?"

"But back to that book. Knowing you two, we'd be stuck here all day. Now the big question is, how do we even decipher this stuff?"

"It should be simple!"

Opening the book, Mita stared at the guidebook, her two friends surrounding her to see if they would be able to find anything.

"Well, if we look here, it seems that to start our training we need to learn how to control our aura."

Tsuji raised his hand to his chin, staring down intently at the book below him.

"Ok ok. I don't get it."

"You dumbass!"

Though Koga had not wanted to admit it, he was just as lost as Tsuji had been. So instead of subjecting himself to that type of embarrassment, he'd take a different approach.

"So how do we do that exactly? Does it say?"

"Well, it's talking about meditation and trying to combine your inner mind and spiritual body."

Sweat dripped down Tsuji's face as his eyes turned downwards. From the way that Mita was describing it, there was no way that she knew anything either.

"Do you even-"

The loud sounds of a galloping horse had cut Tsuji's words off. The noise was all too familiar to anyone who had been in their small village.

"It's one of the military squads and the general. But they shouldn't be back here for another two days. Mita, Koga, you guys hide. I'll go find a place to hide the book."

The two friends attempted to speak up in unison at the demon from Tsuji. Even if they were in danger, they'd rather not push everything onto him.

"But-"

"If they catch us, we're dead. Who knows what they'd do if they caught us with this? They might think we're gonna sell it off to the monsters."

"But that's just a rumor."

Tsuji's face had grown more tense his stance stiffening at the idea of wasting any more time before they were all eventually caught by the military.

"Just give me the book, Mita. I'll be fine. I promise."

"O-Ok."

The way that Tsuji was acting caused the young girl to feel reluctant, shrinking backward and away from him slightly. She had never seen Tsuji act like this, and it wasn't something she wanted to see again. Why would he want the book alone, anyway? It's not like he'd be better off without them. But it was clear that no matter what she did, he wouldn't listen to her. Extending her hands, Mita placed the book within Tsuji's hands.

Grasping the book in his hands, a smile formed across Tsuji's face. Failing to recognize that Mita and Koga had already turned in the opposite direction from him.

"Now, how do I deal with the military? I need a way to get out of here and fast."