A New Era Begins: Part 2

"Sei!" Saikyo yelled.

"There is no use in screaming Saikyo." Retsu said with a smile on his face.

"You bastard, how dare you bring my little brother into this, he's done nothing to you." Saikyo said, his anger spiraling out of control.

Retsu lets out a small chuckle which then transitions into full on maniacal laughter "Bastard? Oh man, that's rich coming from you, halfling."

"Tch, What do you want from me, why are you doing this?" Saikyo said.

"I simply want to kneel in front of me, say "I'm sorry for being born in such a shitty species, I'm sorry master Retsu please let me attend Selection day", simple right?" He said.

Oh… I get it...he doesn't have a real reason. He's doing it for the simple fact that I'm a Zenoikian. Even when we were kids he's always been like this, since the very day he found out I was the Zenoikian the leaders of society decided to let live, after that he rubbed in my face about my parents' death. I still even remember the time he played target practice on my little brother using rocks. These harsh, cold, and cruel memories, they go on and on, and on and on, AND ON. He was there in my face laughing maniacally all the while.

"Retsu…" Saikyo said with a look of pure rage and hatred.

"You're risking my brother's life over something so childish." Slowly walking forward as he talked.

"What was it you said? 'Go on then, show me?' Fine, I'll show you, and you're going to feel every last second of it." Saikyo said as his walk transitioned into a sprint.

The student suddenly throws Seicho and the knife towards Retsu while Saikyo was approaching. 

"Oi, oi, oi, what the hell are you doing." Retsu said to his friend.

"Don't worry, I got this. I can take him."

"Eh?"

This idiot

Retsu thought.

Quickly appearing in front of the student, Saikyo's dishes out a blow with a hefty sum of strength.

The kid swiftly dodges and fires back a punch to Saikyo's stomach. As Saikyo stumbles back the student punches two more times both of which lands, striking Saikyo in the face.

"You done yet." Saikyo said as wiped the dust off of his school uniform.

"Tough talk for a guy who's getting his sh*t pounded, name's Max." He said, smiling menacingly.

"Didn't ask." Saikyo says as he dishes out what looks to be a powerful blow.

The quick and strong looking attack had caught Max off guard leaving him the only option of doing a hasty dodge.

Saikyo stopped his hand in an instant, suddenly swinging with the other.

A feint 

Max thought as he tried to dodge again but because of the improper footwork of the first attempt, it had done nothing but make him stumble. 

Knowing he wouldn't avoid the strike this time he tries blocking the punch. The strike easily penetrates his defenses; instantly knocking him out. The boy's face was a horrifying sight after the attack, all his teeth were decimated and his cheek was practically touching the other side.

After finishing off the student Saikyo slowly turned to Retsu who was now holding Seicho and the knife.

"Your turn."

Blood was all over Saikyo's face making his stance seem so menacing that it felt as if time had come to a stop.

Damn it I had told him beforehand not to act out, tch, time for plan B. 

Retsu thought with a cold sweat and a wry smile.

Saikyo dashed to Retsu just as he had done to Max. Retsu pressed the knife up harder on Seicho's neck, drawing blood, stopping Saikyo in his tracks.

Seicho saw himself in this predicament, it reminded him of something. He remembered a kid, holding a girl, the same way Retsu held him. Choking her, threatening him. 

He remembered the two parents of the girl crying in front of a school. His teary eyed expression disappeared and a new expression took form, one that can only be described as shapeless anger. His face was blank but you could tell through his aura that he was angry.

"Oh… I think I understand now Big brother, it's just as you said, this man….is a bad guy." Seicho said as he looked up and locked eyes with his captor. Retsu felt an indescribable pressure coming from the kid as he looked back up to face Saikyo.

While Retsu was distracted by Saikyo and Seicho's anger, Seicho quickly stomped his foot, making the young man yelp in pain. The strength of this Zenoikian child was perplexing, and his attack was so sudden Retsu accidentally let him go.

After Seicho escaped his grasp Retsu tried to stab Seicho but the kid quickly jumped at him, gracefully using Retsu's arm as a support system, grabbing the knife out of his hand along the way, slicing Retsu across the cheek. Seicho landed behind his captor who was still visibly dazed, using the moment Seicho ran to Saikyo.

It was done in such a flawless fashion that even Saikyo was stunned.

The blank and angered state Seicho took and the grim aura surrounding him had disappeared. Seicho ran full speed giving his big brother a hug after dropping the knife that was in his hand, he even had a little blood on his shirt. 

"When did my sweet little brother learn to fight?" Saikyo said as he looked down at his younger brother who was digging his head into his stomach.

After yelling in anger Retsu quickly screamed out "Now", as someone came running from behind a nearby building. Saikyo got into a defensive stance whilst Seicho hid behind him, but they quickly noticed something was wrong.

The person did not come to fight. Device in hand the man had started recording.

"Why are you doing this? My friend, look at what you did to my friend!" Retsu yelled in tears and his voice quivering.

Seeing as how Saikyo and Seicho were standing over an unconscious student with a mangled face and a boy who was on his knees crying with a slash on his. It did not look good, especially from the perspective that one of them has blood on their shirt and the other has blood on his fist.

Retsu continued with his acting and manipulation.

"Wait, it was self defense, these people were trying to hurt me." Seicho said, while hiding his face from the camera.

"What, why would I do that to you? You're the one that had that knife, plus your damned brother has damn near killed my friend." Retsu said with tears flowing down his face like a river.

"Don't talk about my brother, scum." Seicho said as that subtle anger returned to him, his eyes only visible behind Saikyo's arm made the remark even more terrifying.

Whilst Retsu's face broke out in a cold sweat due to Seicho's words, Saikyo couldn't help but be flabbergasted as he had never expected such a plan could be made by someone like Retsu, and Seicho's behavior was also something to look into as it felt like in this moment he was not himself.

Retsu quickly put his hand up as a signal to stop the video and immediately after the tears stopped flowing. 

"You know it's not too late to do what I said, or you could let me send this to the public." Retsu said laughing as he started to stand up from the ground.

Without words Seicho reassures Saikyo with a nod, he knew following this command would definitely take a toll on his big brother's pride.

"If you don't do it we could get into a lot of trouble. There is nothing wrong with it, after all this is over you'd still be my big brother." Seicho said.

Hearing that, Saikyo was happy, he responded with a nod of his head.

"Now or never loser, I need to get some sleep for selection day tomorrow, make sure you don't come either." Retsu said, yawning.

Just as Saikyo knelt down, a girl had jumped off of a small building drop kicking Retsu in the head and quickly doing a backflip off of the unconscious bully.

She then dashed over to the guy who was holding the camera, they fought for a very small amount of time, the man couldn't touch the girl at all, every time he threw a punch she would avoid it and counter with a kick. 

Just before the last kick the man threw a straight punch which she effortlessly avoided, she let her body fall to the ground. While using her right hand to keep herself up she sent a kick to the man's chin, knocking him out. it was over in a flash.

She started to walk back over to Saikyo.

It's Hageshi Kori

"Wow, you actually knelt, I thought you were stronger than that." Kori said with one foot on Retsu's unconscious body, showing way more than what she needed when wearing a skirt.

"I had no choice, he was going to release that video to the public." Saikyo said while trying to look away.

"So." she said as she put her face right in front of his, now sitting on Retsu.

"So?" He said, looking up at her.

"So what if it gets out, from this angle you just look like a normal kid with good hair dye, the camera can't see your pointy ears and you don't have any of those tattoos that the rest have, not to mention the kid doesn't even have those pointy ears." she said, reviewing the video on the device she just retrieved and showed him after.

"I suppose you're right, but just to be safe could you delete the video." Saikyo said, reviewing the video as he started to stand.

"Of course I'm right, and I already deleted it." Kori said as she started to walk over to Seicho.

"You're pretty adorable aren't you kid." Kori said.

Seicho began to look flustered at the words uttered by the girl.

"Alright that's enough, thanks for your help but we'll be going now." Saikyo said, starting to get up and walking to his brother.

As Saikyo walks past Kori she whispers to him.

"Your brother, I can tell there is something different about him, he's special."

"What do you mean?"

"I was watching the whole time, when Retsu first showed up, the kid was practically crying, but then his eyes went blank. They were void, like an empty abyss. I'm no Zenoikian but I'm pretty sure that's not normal. He showed strength capable of beating Retsu the whole time yet he didn't act until after you attacked, it's like a switch flicked in his head."

After hearing this Saikyo had recalled the same events and had come to the same conclusion, there is something special about Seicho. Saikyo looked at Seicho who was chasing some butterflies.

"Hey, Sei, Come here, I want to introduce you to someone." 

"Ok, I'm coming!"

Seicho stopped chasing the butterfly and came over Saikyo and Kori.

"Sei, this girl is Hageshi Kori, she goes to school with me, Hageshi, this is my little brother Ikimono Seicho."

The two look at each other for a second.

"Thank you for getting me and big brother out of this situation, I hope we can become good friends in the future." Seicho said.

"Likewise." She replied.

"I don't know about that." Saikyo said, looking at Kori.

"Why?" Seicho asked.

"I mean don't get me wrong she helped us, but she was also watching us until Retsu threatened us with that public image scheme, something tells me she was gauging our strength, and I don't like it." He said, staring down Kori.

Seicho quickly turned to Kori seeking an explanation.

"It's true. Although I don't feel like explaining, as you can see I'm pretty tired from saving your *ss, you'll find out tomorrow during the selection." Kori said as she walked away yawning.

"By the way, Saikyo, call me Kori."

"What the hell? There is no need to be so mysterious just tell me!" Saikyo yelled out in a rather annoyed tone.

With her hands still in the air from yawning she flipped him off as she walked out of sight.

"The hell is your problem lady!?" Saikyo yelled, but to no avail she had already left.

Seicho laughed at his brother, who was steaming mad. After contemplating for a bit, Saikyo turned to ask his little brother a question.

"Sei, where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked.

Seicho suddenly got shy and started looking at the ground.

"It feels like instinct, my body told me how to move before I even thought to, this… isn't the first time it's happened." Seicho said.

"Not the first time? Do you get into fights at school?" 

"Sometimes, b-but purely out of self defense."

"I understand, I know that you know we could get in trouble for fights with humans, but what did they do to drive you that far?"

"They bully, and pick on me, almost everyday. I endured it, I managed to endure it for so long, then one day, I gained a friend. She was nice, she cared for me. She was the first one to tell me about how bad some people were, but she also taught me that there were also good people too. After seeing that I was not as miserable as I was before, those bullies decided to take that light away from me. They involved her even though she had nothing to do with it. They-." As Seicho said all this he got riled up more and more.

"It's all right, don't, you don't have to say anymore, I understand." 

Damn brats, I wish unrelenting cruelty on you and your family.

"It's ok, I'm fine, you're the best big brother ever and no bad guy will ever get in the way of me seeing anything different."

 Tough little guy, now, time for the rough stuff.

"Do you uh, what happened to her, the girl?" Saikyo asked as his curiosity got the better of him.

Seicho looked to the ground holding his shirt, "After the accident, she was taken to the hospital I never saw her again, I don't know if she's dead or alive and the last memory I have of her is being taken away while her parents balled their eyes out in front of the school."

At a loss for words Saikyo patted his little brother's head and did the only thing he knew would cheer him up.

He turned around, got down and pointed to his back "Hey, Sei.".

Seicho's face brightened up as he said "Aren't I a little too old for this big brother?"

"Don't worry, plus you'll get to see how much stronger I've gotten."

"How fast?" Saikyo asked.

"Push it to the limit." Seicho said as they smiled and laughed in playful glee.

When he was telling me that story… His eyes looked similar to how they were when he defeated Retsu, it wasn't as intense but a flicker was there. Not only that but I noticed something shortly after. A small tattoo in the shape of a dragon had shown up on the right side of Sei's neck. What does it mean? Hopefully if I get good results at the selection. Steady fast on the goal Saikyo, clear the selection, make the Celestial army, sneak into a Zenoikian civilization and get some more answers behind our culture, it'd probably be better to just stay with them. Saikyo thought as he jumped around carrying Seicho.

"Ha, See you soon Gaia, make sure you save me something fancy." Saikyo said aloud as Seicho looked at him with a surprised but happy expression