We ended up at the Cold Stone Creamery that was about three blocks away from the park. It wasn’t as crowded as it usually was. Actually, there was only one table that was occupied. There were four people occupying the table: two guys and two girls. They turned as we came in and I recognized them from my school. Yuki Kakero was the captain of the cheerleading team. Her long blonde hair was tied up high on her head and she had recently neatly trimmed her bangs. Her eyes were like amber and they lit up when she saw me. Next to her sat Kikyou Sobre. She had short brown hair and piercing blue eyes. She had recently won a beauty contest for the school but that hadn’t affected her personality. She was still sweet and kind to everyone, like she was just a sweet little nobody and not the city wide beauty queen she was. Across the table was Nayetzu Fumi, an exchange student. His hair covered his eyes but I had seen them once: they were an enticing red. Next to him was Harutashi Hinoto, he was part of my group of friends but I hadn’t seen him around lately. To be honest I hadn’t seen any of them around lately.

“Hey everybody, look who I brought along,” Kaori said as we walked over to them. They loved more into the booth and I sat down at the end next to Kaori.

“Kikori! Hey there lady! I missed you,” Harutashi exclaimed at me. He came around the table and hugged me tight.

“Hi Hinoto,” I laughed. I liked to call him by his last name.

“Alright then, now that everyone is here it’s time that we made some introductions,” Kaori said.

“We already know each other though,” I said.

“Well not as whom we really are,” said Kikyou. “I’m Kikyou, the Star Gate Keeper.”

“I’m Yuki, the Chakra Gate Keeper,” Yuki said.

“Me, I’m Nayetzu the Aura Gate Keeper,” Nayetzu said taking a sip of her soda.

“The Combat Sense Gate Keeper,” Hinoto said.

“What about you,” I asked Kaori.

“I am the Key Master,” Kaori said simply. “What about you Kikori?”

“Well I think I’m the Dream Gate Keeper.”

“Now that we’re all introduced, let’s get down to business. Kikori was attacked by a demon not that long before we got here. This definitely means someone knew about her."

“Well that seems almost obvious. Some one would’ve had to have figured out that it would be Kikori. We would choose no one else. And it’s obvious who it was as well,” Hinoto said.

“Dinoto,” Nayetzu said.



“Dinoto Sobre,” I asked in confusion. “But isn’t that Kikyou’s older brother?”

“Yes,” said Kikyou.
She stared into the cup of her tea. She didn’t like soda or juice. Just tea or water, some milk here and there for Kikyou. She cared very much about her body. Not as much as Yuki did though. That would explain why Yuki was the chakra gate keeper. Kikyou was a natural star gazer. She could be found charting the stars past a majority of the time. Kikyou could even tell you a fragment of your future. Nayetzu had actually claimed in the fifth grade that he could see auras but no one believed him. I watched him for a moment before his eyes met mine. He smiled shyly and I looked away shyly. Hinoto cleared his throat and then went back to fiddling with his straw. Hinoto, well he was obvious to me from the moment he uttered the words combat sense when we were about nine. When we were younger he would take karate classes and in about 2 short weeks he rose to the top of the class. We couldn’t figure it out but whenever we would hang out, when he was sure we were completely alone he would talk to me about it.
“I don’t know,” he had told me one time. “It’s like I can sense the other person’s next move. I know what they’re about to do and I dodge it and then hit them with a counter attack that would work best. I really don’t know how I do it but it’s like the 6th sense for me.”
I looked across the table at him. He was fiddling with the straw but he must have felt my eyes on him. He looked up and grinned at me. Then I looked over at Nayetzu. He was watching me and for a moment our eyes connected. I blushed hard and looked away. There was no denying that he was cute. He wore a perfect fitting blazer with a white shirt underneath. Hinoto cleared hi throat loudly again had look away.
I smiled softly ant Hinoto and he just watched me for a moment before averting my eyes. I just couldn’t figure it out. What had I done? Hinoto was my best friend; he should know that I wouldn’t abandon him.
“So what do we do now,” Yuki asked, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder. “I mean we all know that Kikori doesn’t know enough to protect herself. And even if we did protect start training her at this very moment she’d still be in danger. You know that very well Kaori.”
“Yes I am aware,” Kaori sighed. “Te way she handled that demon today shows promise but I know Dinoto will send more than one next time. He won’t stop until we’re all done for and I know he’ll go after the weakest link first. Not that you’re weak Kikori but you have to understand that you’re nowhere near the rest of our levels.”
“So train me now,” I blurted out. Everyone turned to look at me and I blushed hard. If there was one thing I hated was to be thought of as weak. “I mean, you know, just ignore me.”
“Well we will have to start training you now. It’s the only way we can make up for so much lost time. Do you remember in the dream you had last night? Where the vine was zooming at you? That was part of Dinoto’s doing. It took me a while to block out the nightmares and when I finally did I couldn’t keep them out for long. He’ll start to kill you in your mind before he kills you in real life.”
“I won’t let him! I’ll kill him before he can hurt her or any of you,” Hinoto exclaimed. He crushed the straw in his hand and his eyes held fierce determination. I watched him in surprise. I had never him so serious in since I’ve known him.
“Yes we feel the same way Hinoto. Relax hun,” Yuki said. I saw his shoulders become less tense and his eyes soften.
“Well shall we start training,” Kaori asked.
Everyone nodded and we headed out the ice cream shop. We walked in a silence that seemed to scream at me. It was so strange now: the thought of death being around every corner that we turned. The worst part was that Hinoto still looked so angry. I couldn’t figure out why though. I grabbed his hand and he looked at me in surprise.
“It’s okay,” I said softly and I gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
He squeezed mine back then pulled me close to him. We walked together, with his arm around my shoulder. I noticed Nayetzu kept glancing over at us. My heart skipped a beat every time I saw him watching. He was really cute and I hoped he didn’t get the wrong idea and thought that Hinoto and I was an item. We ended up at Kaori’s house. He quickly waved us inside and past his mother who tried to stop us in curiosity. He took us to his backward where he had a training field set up.
“Okay so here’s what we do,” he said taking off his jacket. “Kikyou can u conjure up some kind of opponent for her made out of light?”
“Light,” I asked curiously.
“Yeah,” Kikyou said. “I am the Star Gate Keeper and the stars give off light. So I can also manipulate light and bend it to my will. We have to teach you defense and we usually train with the beasts I make from light.” She closed her eyes and took a breath. Then she started to pull light from the air: literally. She started to mold it: first she made it tall, then she created its arms, legs and a face and then finally she gave it two scythes. “I hope you’re Kikori.” She and every one else took a step back. Kaori threw me a whip and I snapped it on the ground.
“Let’s do this,” I said/
The light monster ran and swung his scythe at me. I ducked low kick and the feet from beneath him. He fell over but he quickly jumped back up. Then I swung my whip at him and caught him around the neck. I pulled hard and his head came flying off. I watched him wide eyed. Oh my god I just pulled off his head! Ew! Suddenly the monster reached down and picked up his head, re-attaching it to his body. Oh crap. What do I do now? Then I remembered the demon from earlier. Even when I had cut off her hands she was still alive. The only way to get rid off it…
I yanked at my key and thrust it into the invisible key port. The monster lunged at me and I swung my whip again catching it in the back. Then I turned the key and portal appeared. A strong wind blew and began to push the monster to it while a sucking wind pulled it from the inside. He fought it but it was no use. So he grabbed me by my wrist instead. I fought hard to break free but it was no use.
“Let me go,” I yelled. Fear was taking over me and I stopped fighting.
“Kikori,” I heard the others yell. A figure leapt at us and sliced the monsters head off, then his hands. He threw the head and hands into the portal and the monster ran after it. Then the portal closed as I collapsed on the ground, panting hard. The person who saved me picked me up and held me close. I looked up at him expecting to see Hinoto, but instead I looked up into the red eyes of Nayetzu.
“Are you okay,” he asked me holding me close.
“I, I think so,” I said between my breaths.
“Your wrist is bleeding.” He gently touched my bruise and I winced in pain.
“Oh my God are you okay,” Yuki said running over with the others. Hinoto grabbed me from Nayetzu and cradled me like a baby.
“Thank god you’re alright,” Hinoto said.
“Oh man this is the second time something like this has happened to her,” Kaori said. “I’ve got no other choice. She’ll need one of us to be her body guard until we can be sure she won’t get dragged into her own portal.”
Hinoto was about to talk when Nayetzu said, “I’ll do it.”
“Then it’s decided.”