'The aura is so heavy and vast, it's just like the earth itself. No mistake about it, this is the aura of the Yashiro. I didn't think he'd been here too. Hmm, looks like the owner of this dojo must be quite strong, otherwise he wouldn't have caught that guy's attention.'
Shermie looked up at the dojo with the Kyokugenryu plaque hanging at the entrance. She knew that Yashiro was a man who loved to fight. Before awakening, besides traveling and music, his biggest hobby was challenging strong opponents.
Then, she turned her head to look across the street, at another dojo not far from Kyokugenryu.
The Todo-ryu dojo.
And the moment she looked over, she sensed another familiar aura. It was just that the earthy energy Yashiro left behind was too heavy, so she hadn't noticed it right away.
'The dark power of Orochi, huh? Another companion!'
At that moment, Shermie narrowed her eyes slightly. Counting herself, there were already three members of the Eight Hakkesshu who had been here. And before, Goenitz had said that he, too, would come to Japan.
Suddenly, something seemed to occur to her, and her face filled with fear.
Now that Japan was about to gather four of the Hakkesshu members, and three of them were among the Four Heavenly Kings, didn't that mean the mission they carried, to resurrect Orochi, was something destined to happen?
At that thought, her face turned deathly pale again.
———
Inside the Kyokugenryu dojo, after asking one of the disciples a few questions, Aiden saw Mai and Yuri Sakazaki supervising the disciples' training in the practice hall.
Mai, dressed in comfortable casual clothes, was kneeling in the rest area, sipping tea. Her gaze was drifting lazily toward Yuri, who was shouting instructions to the Kyokugenryu students.
"Don't think you can slack off just because my dad and brother aren't here. Listen up! Do you know why our school is called Kyokugenryu, Extreme Style?"
"It's because our ancient martial art was created to push ourselves beyond our limits! If you don't work hard now, how will you ever get stronger? Haven't you learned your lesson from the last time someone came to challenge our dojo?"
The young girl's bright voice echoed through the hall. Don't be fooled by the fact that she was only eighteen or nineteen and still acted like a child, since her father and brother weren't around, she had been managing the dojo in an orderly way, and her tone even sounded a lot like theirs.
The training disciples didn't treat her like a kid anymore. Or rather, they didn't dare to. They had seen her strength. She might not be as strong as her brother Ryo Sakazaki or her master's disciple Robert, but in their eyes, she was already a formidable fighter.
So, under Yuri's young but commanding voice, the Kyokugenryu disciples trained diligently, practicing their moves to the beat of the lead student's commands.
'Yuri really looks the part now.'
At that moment, Mai, still sipping her tea, suddenly heard a familiar voice beside her. She froze, looked up sharply, and when she saw who it was, she set down her cup and leapt up, throwing herself into Aiden's arms.
"Aiden, you're finally back! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, Mai."
Aiden patted Mai's back, then leaned toward her ear and said softly, "Yuri asked me to bring someone back with me. Come on down, I'll introduce you."
Hearing that, Mai quickly jumped away from him, turned toward King, and bowed politely. "Hello, I'm Mai."
"Hi." King nodded, returning the greeting, then looked toward the training floor at Yuri.
In fact, Yuri had already noticed King too. The two of them were acquaintances. After giving a quick order to the lead student, Yuri ran over immediately.
"Big Sis King!"
"Yuri."
King smiled in surprise. She and Yuri had met in South Town, and thinking about it now, they'd known each other for years.
"Your brother's not here?"
King looked around, but didn't see any familiar faces.
Yuri said gloomily, "That idiot brother of mine went out training with Dad."
"Robert went too?"
"That idiot Robert's just my brother's tag-along. Of course he did." Yuri clenched her fists.
"Robert's a nice guy. Calling him a tag-along sounds kind of harsh."
"What's harsh about it? Robert follows my brother everywhere! No matter where they go, he's always tagging along. Like this time's tournament, I already talked to Dad and my brother, but they still let Robert participate, never even asked how I felt about it."
Yuri spoke through gritted teeth.
In fact, if it hadn't been for her father and brother's decision, she might not have thought to call King at all, she just didn't want to trouble her too much, since King still had a younger brother to care for.
But now, King didn't really care about that anymore.
Before they left, Aiden had already paid for her brother's hospital fees, a huge amount of money, more than King could ever hope to repay in this lifetime.
So, when she left France, she had felt like she could only devote herself to Aiden.
And that much had already shown itself, just from how she acted at dinner, it was clear King had some feelings for Aiden.
However, only King herself knew the truth.
Her feelings toward Aiden were mostly gratitude, nothing more. So she could only bury them deep inside her heart, unable to tell anyone.
Earlier, the Kagura sisters and Shermie had been too busy arguing to pay her any attention anyway.
At this moment, Yuri was still venting to King, complaining about how her father and brother wouldn't let her join the KOF tournament.
The innocent girl's complaints carried such heartfelt emotion that anyone listening would feel sad for her. If Mai and King hadn't known her personality already, they probably would have been moved to tears by now.
Meanwhile, Aiden turned his gaze toward the training disciples drenched in sweat and training hard on the floor. This was his first time witnessing such a large-scale training scene, and honestly… he found it pretty interesting.
There were probably over a hundred students in total, much livelier than the Shiranui dojo.
And he had to admit, the Kyokugenryu students were impressively diligent, training with great effort. Yuri's pep talk clearly worked.
Still, no matter how interested he was, Aiden hadn't forgotten that Shermie was waiting for him outside.
He had left her out there on purpose, just to prevent her from arguing with Mai. He didn't have the energy to manage another fight between them.
So, after chatting a little longer with Mai and Yuri, he finally left, under Mai's reluctant gaze.
Outside, Shermie was sitting by the dojo's entrance, resting. She looked downcast. Right now, she felt hopeless about her fate. She had thought she could escape her destiny, but it turned out she couldn't.
"Shermie, what's wrong?"
Standing at the door, Aiden noticed her sitting on the steps with her head lowered, and asked in confusion.
"Nothing."
Hearing his concern, Shermie just shook her head lightly and didn't say much.
She thought it best not to speak about such things. Even if she did, Aiden wouldn't be able to help her anyway. To her, he was just an ordinary person. Sure, he knew some fighting techniques, but he was still far from being a true martial artist.
Seeing that she didn't want to talk, Aiden shrugged, then slowly sat down beside her, deciding to keep her company for a while.
In truth, he had a good guess as to why she was acting this way, it must have something to do with the Hakkesshu.
Because he knew that Yashiro had been here before. When he heard Yuri mention that the Kyokugenryu dojo had been challenged, Yashiro had immediately come to mind. That man loved to fight.
"Want to lean on my shoulder for a while?" Aiden asked.
Shermie nodded slightly, then rested her head on his shoulder.
Aiden naturally wrapped his arm around her waist and, after a moment, gently brushed her hair with his hand.
They sat quietly like that for a while. Then Aiden suddenly seemed to remember something, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
He was calling the Kagura sisters. At this point, they were the only ones who could help Shermie find a suitable place to stay.
He hadn't forgotten about that, where else could she live? Bringing her back home was out of the question.
The call connected quickly, and Chizuru picked up. But when she heard that Aiden wanted her to find a place for Shermie to stay, she was clearly displeased.
Finding housing for a Hakkesshu member? What a joke. The only reason she hadn't already eliminated Shermie was out of respect for Aiden.
Still, Aiden's words carried weight. After some persuasion, Chizuru finally agreed, and not long after, she told him she'd found a place.
But it came with a condition, Aiden had to return to the shrine to rest that night. No staying out.
That, of course, made sense. Aiden had been worried that Goenitz might already be back in Japan. If Goenitz attacked the shrine while he was away, he'd have nowhere to even cry about it.
After all, the main reason he came back to Japan early was to protect Chizuru Kagura.
———
Before returning to the shrine, Aiden took Shermie to the apartment Chizuru had arranged for her.
And he had to admit, though Chizuru clearly disliked her, she was still generous. The place was a full apartment, three bedrooms, two living rooms, located in a bustling area where rent easily cost hundreds of thousands of yen per month.
Afterward, Aiden went downstairs to buy some daily necessities for Shermie and helped tidy up the place before finally heading back to the shrine.
As soon as he stepped through the shrine's grand, ancient gate, he hurried toward the administrative hall.
The old stone path was empty. It was already late, and the quiet grounds gave off an eerie atmosphere. If he didn't know it was a shrine, Aiden might not have dared to walk alone.
Before long, he reached the shrine office. When he slid open the door, he saw the Kagura sisters sitting quietly inside, sipping tea.
Hearing the door open, both sisters turned their heads toward him.
"I'm back."
"Welcome home, Aiden."
"You've worked hard, Aiden."
[T/N: New novel is up—🔥I Became a Character in Honkai: Star Rail🔥. Enjoy~]