A Strange Set Of Rules

Night Twenty...

Age 1991

Ken's eye twitched, and a frown crossed onto her face as she folded her arms. She stood inside of the train entrance way staring down at that Kitsune boy who currently stood in front of her.

The strange boy was currently outside of the train bowed down and holding his hand out to her trying to slyly grab her hand. "May I help you out, my fair lady-"

Ken stepped down on his head shoving it into the ground as she stepped out of the train using his body as a makeshift stairway as she stepped onto the cold snow of the ground below.

"So this is Oleander city..." She muttered biting her lip. "It's actually... Pretty freaking cool... Reminds me of the city in my favorite superhero comic I read-"

"Yep!" Kitsune announced popping back up like nothing happened. "It is cool right!"

"You're a very strange boy..." Ken sighed.

"Yep!"

"I hate you."

"Yep!"

"God damn it..."

The two of them walked towards the gate. The entire time Ken kept moving her arm away from Kitsune, who for some strange reason kept trying to grab her hand. It seems he didn't get the point... At one point she got tired of this and smacked him over the head with her heavy bag knocking him out, and dragged his unconscious body over to the gate at a slow rate dragging him through the snow.

Ace, the guard at the gate, looked at her with a bit of confusion. She couldn't see his face due to his helmet, but he wouldn't stopped fidgeting.

"D... Did you have to knock him out?" He asked stepping away from the scary demon girl.

"Yes... Yes, I did." Ken said causally. "Please open the gate before he wakes up."

"Sure thing. Please don't hurt me scary lady."

"No promises."

The metal gates slowly pulled open allowing Ken to step inside the city. She looked around with a bit of wonder as her silver eyes took in the sight.

"It's pretty cool right!" Kitsune said sitting up straight no longer knocked out. Seriously what was his head made out of?

"You recovered from that head injury pretty fast..." Ken muttered with a bit of disappointment. "Then again I suppose it would be impossible to give you brain damage. After all, you can't damage something that doesn't exist."

"You're a very rude little girl... If you really wanna know how I do it, that devil arm asshole has hit me over the head so many times head injuries means nothing to me! My skull is harder than diamond."

"And yet you're still an idiot."

"And you're still a rude midget."

Ken let out a small giggle that was way too cute for the monster she was. "I prefer Devilish."

"Because you're secretly the devil in disguise? I never would have expected one would be dressed up as a Sister of Red..."

Ken went back to ignoring the strange Noble as her eyes once again drifted out towards the city landscape. "This is my first time being in Oleander..." She said quietly.

"...Do you want me to hold your-"

"No."

"Hey! I want doing it to be perverted!" Kitsune did a pose pointing the hilt of his flame hammer towards the sky. "It is what a Noble Samurai such as myself should do!" He announced. "It is my job to protect the Princesses of this world!"

"It's also the best way for your head to fall off your shoulders," Ken said casually.

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a promise." She turned around giving a cute, yet evil smile, towards Kitsune, who shivered in response. "Now come on. We're gonna be late."

"R... Right... Why don't you lead the way... You know... Where I can see you... In front of me. Away from me." Kitsune muttered. He was starting to suspect hitting on her wasn't a very good idea. He'd need to try a few more times to confirm his suspicion.

The worst duo ever, wandered towards the massive out of place metal building that rested in the large snowy city, at a steady pace. Kitsune tried to stay behind the Red Sister, making sure he could always see her. Ken herself didn't seem to mind preferring the scared way he saw her. He was a lot cuter when he wasn't trying to flirt with her.

Finally, after a few minutes, the duo arrived in front of a large Golden Gate where a massive buff man stood. He seemed to be fuming about something muttering something about 'Law?' and not living up to expectations under his breath.

"Yo. Buff guy." Ken said casually. "Let us in."

The man's eyes snapped over to her, making Kitsune flinch but she stood her ground. His eyes wandered up and down at her outfit before locking in on the necklace that was around her neck.

"Ahh. A Red Sister?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Ken nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No. I was just making a mental note." He muttered. He still sounded slightly disappointed. Who had he talked to- It was Hero wasn't it? "We get members from the Red Church quite often. You Red Church girls make fine warriors so it isn't uncommon for some of you to get letters. Happens all the time. Plus you always have Equations and strong Cursed Life Technique."

"About the letters..." Ken asked curiously. "Are they sent out every year?"

"Sometimes?" The Gate Guardian shrugged his shoulders showing he himself honestly didn't fully know. "In all honesty, it really does come down to what our Great Master, Master Storm, head of the family of Storm, is thinking of at the time... We could send it out yearly, or we could wait years, before trying to recruit anyone else... It depends on what he sees."

"Sees?" Kitsune asked curiously.

"Some believe our Master has a way to see past the veil of time and into the future. He has shown abilities that are not from his Cursed Life Technique nor are they from Equations. In fact, he's the one who makes the letters we send out, as such he has a wide array of powers that we don't even know about. It is a popular theory that one of these powers are a way to see into the future itself showing him the truth that the world may hold. Master Storm is by all definitions a wild card... Some people even thinks he is the one with the Heart..."

"Oh, he can't be that bad," Ken said rolling her eyes.

"You're right. He's worse. Anything you're thinking of is wrong."

"Ominous," Kitsune said stepping forward. "So can we enter?"

"Letter and name, and tell me what color the letter is." The man grunted.

Kitsune and Ken both handed their letters over saying their names and the correct color.

"A Nine huh." The man muttering looking down at Kitsune. "Guess we got another Noble huh? You must be the younger brother of Jin Nine right?"

"Yeah. You knew my brother?" Kitsune said taken aback.

"Kid. What Enforcer doesn't know your brother. Jin Nine is... Jin was a good man. He fought bravely allowing his Squad to escape and fell tragically in the line of duty. If you even have half the skill he does then you'll get in for sure. He was one of the finest warriors I've know with his mighty power he was able to slay nearly any Bestia Macht. Those creatures would have had to play dirty in order to beat him. That is a fact I am sure."

"What about me?" Ken asked casually.

"You're a Sister of the Red. I know you can get in. You guys are all crazy warriors trained from the moment you join the church to be the finest warriors in this Nation." He chuckled. "Now stand back. This is gonna hurt..." He bent over grabbing a section that could slide up, of the golden gate, and lifted with his legs raising it high above his head. He let out a grunt as soon as it was up high above his arms. "G... Go... This is really heavy." He grunted.

Ken, and Kitsune quickly walked under the bridge getting onto the other side. As soon as they were on the other side Ken turned to face the large man. "Thanks again for letting us in the-"

"Step back before it-"

'Bam!'

He dropped the gate causing the ground to shake. Ken fell forward slamming into the gate face first at a fast speed.

"...Oww..." The young girl muttered sliding down it slowly. "That hurt..."

"Ken are you alright!" Kitsune said alarmed. "Is your pretty face okay!"

"Whoops... I guess she's so small that the weight knocked her over." The man hissed. He looked down at the snow with had a few drops of red. "Definitely a broken nose and a few broken teeth... Maybe you should try again next year-"

"I'm fine." Ken stepped back wiping the blood off of her face. Her nose and jaw were completely fine? In fact, she didn't look injured at all despite the blood and broken teeth that was on the ground. Small wisps of smoke came off her face for a second as she rubbed it.

"Oh. Some kind of healing based Cursed Life Technique?" The man asked curiously. "Those are rare..."

"I guess you can say that." Ken smiled making both boys frown. Cursed Life Techniques were vast in nature. They could either be something similar like controlling an Element, something with lots of potential such as the abilities of a Devil or God, like the Flame Spirit Power, or Monkey King, or just something odd like Smoke hands. Cursed Life Techniques had no limits for what could come out of them, but something about Ken just seemed kind of off... Not normal.

What was she?

Kitsune wasn't able to think about it any further though as his attention was soon brought to a large stone wall covered in wooden signs all labeled as rules...

"Huh..." He muttered reading a few off.

'Warning: No using your Cursed Life Technique in the halls. Warning: Do not fight inside the halls. Warning: You are not allowed out past curfew Warning: You may challenge the Captains but we highly recommend that you do not. If you choose to do so than we the league of the Enforcers may not be held responsible for any kind of life-threatening injuries you may gain. Warning: If you are female and come across the Vice-Captain known as Jackson Storm you are not allowed to be flirtatious with him. You as well as he will both be sent to the hospital. You have been warned. Warning: if you come across a small girl wearing a black cloak who is sleeping please do not wake her. She will kill you. Warning: If you are sleeping and feel like someone is watching you please ignore it. He will go away after a while. Warning: You are under no circumstance allowed to keep a Bestia Macht as a pet. Especially if it is cool looking. We're serious about this Jackson, please stop pretending like this rule doesn't exist. Warning: You are not allowed to take down any of these signs and simply ignore the rules. Warning: You are not allowed to ignore the rules because they don't suit you. Warning: No cameras. Warning: Saying 'Fuck it' does not mean you are allowed to do what you want. Warning: Please stop asking Vice-Captain Mary to show off her Cursed Life Technique. We can not keep paying for trips to the therapist. Warning: Going into the Squad Three Building is technically allowed but we wouldn't recommend it. Warning: If you see Master Storm running around, please contact one of the four sacred beast right away. Chances are he is skipping work again. Warning: You are in no circumstances ever allowed to challenge the First Captain. He will kill you, and very likely anyone in the area by accident, and also the city. You are to refrain from doing anything threatening to him, or around him. If you break this rule you will be sent to Nightshade, under law of Death Row. This is your only warning...'

"Is it too late to have second thoughts about being an-" Kitsune was cut off as Ken grabbed him by the back of his jacket and began to drag him towards the Enforcer building. "Wait! I don't want to die!" He cried out.

"Too bad," Ken said in a blank tone dragging him into the building.

The Gate Guardian watched them enter with an amused smirk. "Poor bastards. Don't know what hit them..."