The Foreign Guardian

Chapter 1: A Good Deed Gone Wrong

One week...

Seven days...

One hundred and forty-eight hours...

Eight thousand, eight hundred, and eighty minutes...

Five hundred thirty-two thousand and eight hundred seconds...

Five million three hundred and twenty-eight thousand milliseconds...

Whichever way I described the passed time, it doesn't make each moment less agonizing for me behind my smiles and silence. Before then, I lost a good friend to a good deed. The Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku. I know I technically sent him back, but at the time it was the right thing to do.

Now, I'm not so sure anymore.

Its the weekend, and I decided to go camping on my own today for the first time since my friend went back. I packed everything and got ready myself. I put on my usual blue jeaned bell bottoms and white sports sweater with holes where the thumbs are for outdoor activities.

"Where are my leather boots? I thought I put them by the door."

Upon further inspection, it turns out I was so depressed that I had put the dirty boots in the closet. Not once in my life have I done this no matter how sad I felt, but I guess there is a first time for everything. I put them on and dragged my stuff out the building and to my silver buggie.

Time skip-->

The scent of nature entered my nose when I opened the door. The sound of the trees, water, and occasional animal sounds evaded my ears. My eyes took in the beauty that I once shared with Kyojuro.

"Kyo, please live to witness the beauty of nature whether in the day or night. Even if I am not there to be a part of it..."

My eyes attempted to make more tears spilling, but this time, I didn't care about who sees me. I mean, who's there to watch? The Predator?

I went to work setting up camp. In the middle of getting wood, the same two crows landed on the peak of my tent.

'Wow, you're back early! Where's the nice young man that accompanies you?'
"If you must know, he went back to where he came from."
'For someone whose done a good deed and is naive, your reaction to it is quite solemn.'

I sighed while finishing the campfire. It hasn't even been an hour here, and my head is already having a migraine. I turned to them with a heated glare.

"That is because I've lost a good friend to a good deed."
'That sounds like a you problem. You know you could've went with him, right? After all, you are also not-'
'Quakey, shut up! It's best you don't say anything more... remember our promise to the Shizen family!'
"No...nono, tell me what you were about to say, because I am tired of the riddles! It has something to do with Kyo and my parents, therefore, it concerns me!"
'...Ok, if you can take us with you to your apartment, we will show you something that has been overdue...'
'Quakey-!'
'Mina, you and I both know she should've known the moment she began noticing her abilities more and more. Shizen-san has grown strong, determined, and responsible. Don't tell me she is not prepared to know where she truly came from.'

The crow with the crooked feathers on top to look like a woman's bob glanced back and forth. It then stopped to stare at me and shook it's head.

'You're right. The truth has indeed been overdue. Let's show her.'

I nodded and unfortunately began to pack everything up. The unlit campfire is left untouched as I drove off to my apartment for some unanswered questions. The drive there is quite quiet both in my head and outside of it. Nobody spoke up or thought anything.

"We're here," I announced getting out of the car with two crows on each side of my head.

I didn't bother to get the stuff out of the car. I'm a woman on a mission, dammit!

'Wah, this building is as friendly as I remembered!'
'You have been taking care of it, Shizen-san.'
"Thank you. I want it to stand out in the midst of this side of town. Now, the moment that we enter it, you know the deal."

I opened the door and locked it behind me because safety first. Despite being a residence in Japan for the majority of my life and my parents', people don't like foreigners and "foreigners". The crows took flight waiting for me to follow them. Where they flew to is quite peculiar. It is the room at the end of the hall where I had to reside since I gave my actual room to my friend. Before Dad's passing, that room belong to my parents. After I had to take over the family vet and apartment, I got rid of anything big and bulky that belonged to them except a couple of items that I deemed important I kept in remembrance. Nothing was done to the area since until Kyojuro showed up.

So for them to come into the room is quite worrying, because imagine if I accidentally gave away or pawned something crucial by accident.

'Please don't tell me I jinxed it.'
'Go to the closet and remove the closet shelf.'

I wanted to question the weird request. However, I shrugged it off and took my keys where my switchblade is attached. I changed into the screwdriver and took down the shelf. Behind there was a rectangle cut out in the white wall. On one hand, I wondered how I missed it, but the other hand, the cut out is the same height as the girth of the board. Thus, the perfect hiding place for whatever my parents were trying to conceal.

I switched to the knife and started to pry the makeshift safe open. In there seems to be a book of some kind along with some other stuff on top. Afraid of the book being too old for rough actions, my hands gently reached in there and pulled the items out. There's a dark green book with lighter tones as engravings, a small silver journal, an ancient green headband with a silver coin in the middle and gems hanging from it, and a dark leather choker.

"Um, the journal and book, I understand, but what about the headband and choker?"
'The books will answer all the questions you have as of right now. Why you are the way you are? Why your abilities haven't went away even after doing what you thought was right? What did your parents hid from you? And many more you were not aware of.'
'Just know that once you open the books, you will have more questions than answers. However, we will be more than honored to travel along side you and help anyway we can.'
'Come on, Mina. Let's give her some space for a while. If you need us, we will be in your other room.'

With that, they flew away giving me said space. I sat on my office chair staring at the book like it's a myth buster. It felt like hours since I just sat there contemplating if I should just ignore everything happening to me today and continue my life as an veterinarian outcast or finally take down the enigmas that plague my mind on the daily.

"No. Like I said, it concerns me. I am Flora Shizen, not Courage the Cowardly Dog."

Fearlessness took over me, and I began reading.