Chapter 1

WHAM!

“TERRY!”

“What the hell’s your problem, dude?” one of the skaters demands, “You come outta nowhere and beat the hell out of our bro here with that stick of yours and then you tell us to get the hell out of here?! The hell are you thinking?! You wanna die?!”

I didn’t respond and just starred at him with a blank expression. He gets pissed and comes running at me with his fist raised.

“Say something you-”

BAM!

“JOHNNY!”

“The hell’s with this guy?! He just beats people up with that stick just cause or something?!” Another of the remaining skaters asks.

“Wait, that ain’t no stick. I think that’s a bamboo sword!”

“Who the hell cares?! This guy is too much for us! We’ll get beaten to a pulp if we go against him!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” I scream.

I bring my sword down on the downed skaters back. He winces and the remaining skaters stare at me in fear. I bring my sword back up and they brace themselves but I point it behind me.

“All you fuckwits look over there!” I demand.

Behind me was a small vase knocked over and cracked with a flower in a puddle of spilled water. I look back at the skaters with a glare and they all flinch.

“I’ve got a few questions for you lot…” I sneer, “FIRST QUESTION! What is that behind me? YOU the fat one!”

“Uh-wh-me?” The guy I point at with my sword stutters, “Um, well I guess it’s for the kid who passed away about a week ago, right?”

BAM!

“CORRECT!” I shout.

I smash his nose in with the head of my sword. The two other skaters try to help their friend but they pause when they stare up at me as I continue to glare at them.

“SECOND QUESTION! Why is it knocked over?” I ask.

“Uh, it’s because we knocked it over when we skated by?”

“Interesting, then maybe…YOU SHOULD ALL APOLOGIZE TO THE KID?!?” I scream with a even more harsh glare while pointing at the empty air.

“AAAHHH! WE’RE SORRY! WE’RE SO SORRY! WE WON’T EVER DO IT AGAIN!” They yelp as they drag their downed buddies away with them.

To them it’s just air, but to me I’m pointing at a young boy who’s body is transparent and he’s looking at me with a perplexed expression. If it wasn’t obvious, yes, I can see ghosts but I like to call them spirits. How can I see them? Well, we’ll get to that part in a bit.

“Hey kid, sorry for using you like that,” I sigh while bowing my head apologetically.

“Oh it’s ok, mister,” the spirit says with a smile, “after all I’m the one who asked you to come help so it’s only fair I do my part.”

“If you say so,” I shrug, “I’ll come back and help you after I go home to my family. I’ll even bring fresh flowers.”

“Thank you mister,” he said as he waved.

I nodded and began my trek back to my house while slinging my bamboo sword over my shoulder. My name’s Kaito Kondo, by the way. Yes, I have a Japanese name but it’s only because of my late parents and my mother gave it to me so I decided to keep it. My father was American and my mother was Japanese and my father met my mother when he visited Japan once. I was born about a year after they were married and I lived a happy 6 years with them. That is until…we were involved in an accident that costed them their lives.

I don’t remember much about what happened that day but from what I recall I remember there was a lot of screaming, loud noises, and an explosion that knocked me out. When I came too, I was in a hospital bed covered in bandages. When I heard my parents were both dead, it didn’t register to me they were gone at the time.

The only things I have to remember them by were my hair and a necklace my father wore all the time. My hair is dirty blonde like my fathers and has chocolate brown streaks running through it that I got from my mother since she had the same color hair. I grew it out so it reaches to the middle of my back and I fashion it in a braided ponytail since that’s how my father always grew and styled his hair.

The necklace I now wear is a strange little talisman that looks like half a skull with a cross behind it but it’s my most precious keepsake and I never take it off for any reason whatsoever for a couple reasons. One is to keep my parents hearts close to me at all times and the other, well I’ll save that reason for later too. It was only after the funeral, when I watched both coffins containing my parents being lowered into their graves, I realized I was all alone now. Or at least I thought I was. I walked up to my house and sighed as I unlocked and opened the door.

“I’m home everyo-”

“THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! YOU DELINQUENT NEPHEW OF MINE!”

I ducked down just in time before a man’s body came flying at me with its foot aiming at my head. I grabbed my sword and swung it upwards nailing the man right square in the crotch. The man squeals and rolls all over the floor while holding onto his bruised package and I sigh frustrated and stand up straight.

“For fuck’s sake Uncle Alex, would you quit trying to drop kick me all the damn time?” I said.

“Ugh, I swear that mouth of yours gets worse and worse every day,” I hear a voice behind me making me flinch.

I turn around and I see an elderly man looking at me with furrowed brows and I sigh and bow my head to him.

“I’m sorry Grandpa, but you know how he is,” I try to defend.

“Indeed I do know how he is, boy. He’s my son-in-law after all. While I don’t agree with his methods, he does have a point. You’ve been late for the past two weeks from coming home and missing the curfew,” Grandpa said.

“But Grandpa, you have to admit this “curfew” is ridiculous. Be home by 6pm? I barely have time to hang out with my friends and study at school,” I complain.

“No buts boy, you’ve got plenty of time to hang out with your “friends” on the weekends and you can study as much as you want at school and here in your own home. Now set your belongings near the door and go wash up. Your Aunt and Grandma are almost done making dinner,” he said while turning away and walking towards the dining room. I sigh and drop my bag and bamboo sword against the wall and was about to walk away while my Uncle was still writhing on the floor.

“And make sure you hang up that sword of yours on the rack as well. I don’t want to be having to trip over it again,” I hear Grandpa call out.

I groan and grab my sword strap and hang it on the coat rack. I look down and see my Uncle still clutching himself in pain and I roll my eyes and walk away. As I mentioned before, I thought I was all alone and I didn’t have anyone to take care of me since my parents were dead and I was an only child. But a group of people were nice enough to welcome me with open arms.

All my relatives from my dads side took me in and raised me for the past 10 years of my life. It was my Uncle, Alex Lance, my Aunt and my father’s sister, Mary Lance, my grandpa, Steven Lance, and my grandma, Lois Lance. Along with my two twin little cousins Randal Lance who likes to be called Randy and Jackson Lance who likes to be called J-Son. Don’t ask why he likes to be called that cause even I don’t know…

When my parents died, my grandparents immediately decided to move in with my Aunt and Uncle since they wanted to be near me at all times. Having close relatives who love and care for you is nice and all, but it’s just not the same since they’re not your parents. For 10 years they’ve all done they’re best to support me and be there for me in my time of need. They even went out of their way to enroll me in one of the best high schools in Canterlot City, Canterlot High School. I was originally supposed to go to Crystal Prep but they said it was too far and I should stay locally and closer to them.

My Aunt is a doctor, my Uncle is an electrician, and my grandparents run a drugstore a few miles down the road so you could say I’m part of a well established family. I didn’t really care though because it’s like I said, it’s nice to be with relatives but they can’t replace your parents. No matter how thick your blood ties with theirs.

Also, If you’ve been wondering why I carry a bamboo sword around with me it’s because of two reasons. One, I’m part of the Kendo Club at school which I’m one of their most skilled members. Two, my mother had done Kendo when she was in high school and I have a goal to surpass her and be just as great at the sport as she was.

Grandpa always told me how my father used to go on and on how my mother was one of the most well known Kendo fighters back in Japan. He said she was arguably the most skilled Hachi-Dan class fighters ever known and I always admired the hell out of that. It was because of my mother I took up practicing Kendo at a young age. I’ve been practicing it so much I became the youngest Rokudan class fighter just a few months ago when I wowed the examiners with my skills.

Anyway I walk into the dining room and I’m almost knocked to the ground by two familiar small bodies and I look down to see my little cousins, Randy and J-Son. They both look up at me and smile while hugging my legs and I chuckle a little as I pat their heads.

“Hey you squirts,” I said.

“Hey, big bro!” they both said, “are you gonna show us some more cool sword stuff?”

“Now boys,” I hear my Aunt call from the kitchen, “your cousin is probably too tired from school to do any “sword stuff”. Besides, it’s almost dinner time and I don’t want him all sweaty and smelly at the dinner table.”

They both frown and nod while stepping away but when they glance up at me I wink at them and smile again. I walk in the kitchen and see my Aunt and Grandma and they turn to me and smile.

“Welcome home, Kaito. I hope you haven’t been getting into any more trouble lately,” Aunt Mary questions.

“Trouble? Me? Come on, when have I gotten into trouble?” I ask. Both my Aunt and Grandma deadpan at me while arching a brow.

“Shall we recount the times we’ve gotten phone calls from your teacher Miss Cheerilee?” Grandma asks. I smile sheepishly and was about to say something but Aunt Mary cuts me off.

“Not to mention that one time Principle Celestia came to visit on account of your, “repetitive tardiness”?” Aunt Mary accuses. Again I flinch as I hear her name and I sigh and nod my head.

“Alright, I’ll admit I’m at fault for those times. But I keep telling you I don’t do that stuff anymore. And besides I still have pretty good reasons to all those times,” I defend.

“I’m sure you do,” Aunt Mary retorts sarcastically, “now come wash your hands and set the table, we’re almost done here. And boys can you please go and get your father? Wherever he is,” she said.

“I think Dad is taking a nap in front of the door…” J-son said while glancing towards the door. Sure enough, Uncle Alex is still on the ground and I think he’s passed out. I didn’t think I hit him hard enough but then again I did hit him in the nads so it’s understandable.

“Eh, he’s fine, let’s just get ready to eat,” I said.

Aunt Mary just sighs and nods and I wash my hands and set the table. During dinner my family, minus Uncle Alex, just talk about what they did today and I heard from Randy he’s got a crush on a girl in his class which made Aunt Marry pester him with questions about the girl. Thankfully Randy was too iron willed for her questions and kept his thoughts to himself.

After dinner I said goodnight to everyone and grabbed my stuff from the entrance and headed up the stairs to my room. With nothing else to do I opened my window for some fresh air and sat down at my desk to study a bit before sleeping since it was only a little after 8pm and the moon was out. A little while later, I’m brought out of my thoughts when I hear a familiar howl in the distance.

“Fuck, of all the times…” I growl, “Well I was planning to head out anyway.”

I stand up from from my desk and lay down on my bed. I reach in my shirt and pull out my necklace and stare at it.

“I hate using you, but you’re all I’ve got to remember them by and I still don’t know how I can do the things I do,” I said to it.

I then grasp the talisman in my hand and press it against my chest. Suddenly, I feel myself lift off my bed and I land in the middle of my room. I look down and I’m wearing a black kimono and white socks and sandals on my feet. Tied around my waist is an obi sash and on my right side is a katana sheathed in a white scabbard with a simple circle cross guard and white strapped handle grip.

I sigh and slowly grip my sword and and unsheathe it and listen to the metal rub against the inside of the scabbard. Once it’s fully unsheathed I listen to the sound of my sword shing and gaze upon the sharp blade. It’s metal reflects the moons light and illuminates my room a bit. Normally I’d be admiring its beauty but unfortunately I don’t seem to have time for that. I turn around and look down at my bed to see a familiar body laying there, which was my own unconscious body.

“You stay put,” I tell my body, “I’ll be back as soon as I’m done”

With that I face the open window and jump out and fly through the air while literally jumping on air. By now you’re all probably now wondering what the hell is going on. Well it’s quite simple really, I’m a Shinigami, or in other words a Soul Reaper.

How am I a Shinigami? Well that’s the million dollar question of the fucking decade and I have no earthly clue. I discovered these powers when I was 10 years old when I one day held the talisman on my necklace against my chest like before. When I opened my eyes I was for some reason on the floor and I saw my own body on my bed. I was even wearing the same kimono I have on now. Thinking it was just a dream I laid myself back in my body and woke up like nothing happened.

Although the second and third time I did it I realized it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t until a few months later I was visited by a certain man who came to visit me while I was out of my body. I won’t go into full detail yet, since I’m currently about to do something very important, but all I can say for now is the man who visited me told me things about my new powers that shocked me to the nth degree. He even trained me for 6 long years turning me into the supposed warrior I am now. Even now I’m still training, for what specifically I don’t know.

To some this would probably be the coolest thing to happen to them but for me it just feels like a curse. I didn’t ask for these abilities of mine yet I somehow got them regardless. Every time I use the talisman to leave my body and become a Shinigami I always end up in a bad mood since there are certain entities lurking around at night. What entities you may ask? Well you’re about to find out.

I fly towards the south of Canterlot City and focus my sights. There in the distance were five abnormally huge shadows walking through the streets with red glowing eyes. I stop flying and start assessing the situation.

“Five of them Hollows huh?” I mumble, “Not to mention they’re huge. Guess your sealed form won’t be enough, don’t you think?” I said while looking at my sword. It pulses it’s energy to me and I smirk as I look at back at my targets.

“Yeah, me neither. Let’s get this done so I can send that spirit on it’s way like I promised,” I said while beginning to kneel.

I bend down on one knee and hold my sword with both hands. I close my eyes and concentrate on my sword and release my energy while combining it with my sword. I grip my sword tighter and start to pull my sword handle in opposite directions.

“Rest in Peace…Spirit Hunter!” I call out.

I open my eyes as my sword glows and it starts to change and split in two. What was once a seemingly normal katana was now not one, but two double edged straight swords. The swords handle in my right was still white but the cross guard was in the shape of a shuriken star and the sword in my left was the same but the handle was black. The blades themselves had also changed since they now had a slight crimson blue glow to both of them. To finish off my new form was a white cape that draped over my shoulders down to the back of my knees and flowed in the wind.

I stood up from my kneeling and gave my swords a few practice swings. Satisfied, I gripped both my swords and looked towards my targets with a serious expression.

“That kid is waiting for me, so let’s not keep him waiting for too long,” I tell my right sword. It gives one last shine and I launch myself towards my enemies. I raise my swords above my head and prepare myself for the fight to come.

5 hours later

pant, pant, pant, “Fucking hell that was a workout…” I sigh.

I look around slightly out of breath and gaze upon the battlefield. Five huge deformed bodies of the Hollows I slayed were scattered around the area motionless and were all fading away. Each and every one of them had huge slashes across their bone masks and some were even missing limbs. As they faded away, I relaxed my stance and lifted my two swords up in front of me. I concentrated as I brought them both together and they started to glow until they became one and my katana was now in both my hands and the cape on my shoulders disappeared as well.

I sighed and sheathed my blade and turned around. Before I took to the skies, I looked over my shoulder and watched as the last of my foes faded away.

“I don’t know who any of you were, but I hope you end up in the place I hoped to send you so you can begin a new life one day free of sin. But if any of you committed too many crimes while you were still human, well all I can say is where you’re going is not a place of comfort…” I said as they finally disappeared.

I sighed again and took to the skies with a blank expression. Slaying Hollows sometimes helps calm my nerves and it’s what they deserve so they can move on, but that doesn’t mean I like what I do. Seeing those tortured spirits turn into something monstrous and dark always made me depressed, even the souls who were evil in life don’t deserve this even if they still go to Hell.

A few minutes later I arrive at the place where the spirit of the young boy was and land. As I walk towards the lamp post I grab a few flowers along the road. I stop just under the light and kneel down to pick up the broken vase and put the flowers inside. I stand back up and feel a presence behind me and I smile.

“I told you I’d be back,” I said as I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, the young boy was starring up at me with a smile and he walks around and looks at the flowers I left for him.

“You also remembered the flowers,” he said happily. I chuckle and reach down and tussle his hair and he giggles. One of the few things I find to be enjoyable about these powers are I can interact with spirits both visually and physically, even when I’m still in my own body.

“One thing you should know about me kid, I always keep my promises,” I said as I reach for my sword again. “Now then,” I said, “you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’ve been in this world long enough. I’m sad to leave but I know can’t stay forever. Maybe one day when I’m reborn we’ll meet again in life. When that day comes, do you think we can still be friends?” He asks. I smile and unsheathe my sword and raise the hilt up to his forehead.

“Of course kid, my name is Kaito Kondo by the way,” I said as I perform the Konsō and tap his forehead. His body starts to glow and fades away.

“I’ll remember that big bro Kaito, my name is Lucky Star,” he said and fades away completely. All that was left was a black Monarch butterfly that fluttered away into the night sky. I nod satisfied knowing where he’s going and decide since I’ve done my duties for the night I’ll head home.

About 10 minutes later, I arrive at my house and jump up to my rooms open window and land gently on the floor. I turn around and see my body still motionless and unconscious and I even noticed that the rest of the lights in my house were off. I glanced at my nightstand and see it’s 3am making my eyes widen.

Damn, took longer than I thought this time, I groan in my head.

I sigh and sit on my bed and prepare to enter my body when I hear a phone ringing from my kimono’s pocket. I reach in my pocket and pull out a flip phone I can only use when in this form called my Spirit Phone. I look at the little screen and read a familiar name making me smirk a bit as I open the phone and hold it up to my ear.

“Hello, Sensei,” I said.

“You know you could sound a bit more happier when answering the phone,” my sensei quips.

“What exactly do you expect me to do? Throw a party every time you call?” I retort.

“Well I wouldn’t be opposed to it since it’s you throwing the party,” he playfully teases.

“You should know I took down another group of Hollows tonight. They were huge like the group last week and the one two weeks ago,” I informed him.

“Hmm,” was all he said.

“Hmm? That’s it?” I ask.

“Well what do you want me to say?” he asks.

“I don’t know, maybe call someone and have them investigate why there’s been abnormally large Hollows appearing? I mean it’s one thing for a group of regular sized Hollows to show up but these groups have been huge, like twice the size of a house,” I said.

“Yet you managed to take care of them yourself, right? I doubt there’s any need to call anyone and besides, who exactly can I call? You want me to call one of those guys from the-”

“NO!” I shout cutting him off, “It was bad enough the first time they came after me and you and I both know they’ve got they’re eyes glued on me on all I do! One slip up, one phone call, one anything is all it’ll take for them to swoop in and ruin everything for me!”

“Jeez Kaito, calm down. I was merely making a suggestion. Plus you’re overreacting if you think they’re constantly watching you. Not to mention, even though most of them may be against you, the old man will always be on your side,” Sensei said.

“I know,” I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, “it’s just…I never asked for any of this.”

“I’m aware, you’ve mentioned it many times,” Sensei sighs over the phone.

“I just wish I had some answers, Sensei. It’s been driving me up the fucking wall for 10 years now,” I groan.

“I wish I could tell you something, Kaito, truly I do. But even I don’t know why or how your father had that talisman. If those guys over there know then they’re probably not saying anything for your own good. At least, that’s what I think,” Sensei consoles.

“Yeah,” I snort, “a lot of good that’s doing me…”

“Well as much as I want to continue this conversation, I have some business to take care of. Keep up the good work and keep looking after that city of yours. I’m sure it’ll all work out eventually,” Sensei said.

“I wish you were here to help improve my training, you’ll be proud to know I can hold that new power we’ve been working on together for five minutes now,” I said.

“Well there you go, something to be happy about! Also, it’s funny you mentioned that because I’m actually planning to come visit someday,” Sensei said.

“Wait, really? When?” I ask.

“Oops! I gotta go, see you soon Kaito!” Sensei said before hanging up.

“Sensei? Sensei! Ugh, I hate it when he does that…” I grumble. I close my Spirit Phone and put it back in my pocket.

I sigh and glance at my unconscious body and shake my head as I lay down submerging myself within my body again. I few moments later I open my eyes and I look down to see I’m back in my body. I feel a little groggy since it feels like I’ve been sleeping even though I was wide awake the whole night. I reached into my shirt again and pulled out my necklace with the talisman hanging off it.

“One of these days, I’m gonna fine the answers I seek. I will find out what happened that day and I will find out why I was left alive with these damn powers,” I remind myself of my promise.

My eyes start to droop and I place my necklace back under my shirt and turn my body over and close my eyes. One thing about me is that I can fight invisible monsters all the live long day and I’d rather be doing that than face the most grueling challenge I deal with on a weekly basis. My second year at Canterlot High.

Author's Note

This was something I had been pondering about for a while. Also I got a little more inspired since the anime is making its return in a year! Hope you all look forward to it and don’t worry, I’ll be sure to work on my other stories as well! Thanks for reading!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…