Misaki laid in the grass under the schools large sakura tree sleeping when the sun came up. The sun woke her up from her nap and she got up. Her appearance said nothing about her age since she appeared to a young woman in her mid twenties with very long white hair, two small black horns and red eyes and wore a white kimono with pink blossoms on it. She was roughly over 1000 years old.

Misaki went inside and switched on the TV. There was a news report of a company named Fighter Corp. saying that they will hold a competition to find the strongest fighter. "Hmm. Interesting but nothing for me. I do not need to brag about my strength." She thought. Misaki then began to make breakfast for the students. After her rice was done cooking, she put some in a bowl and opened a packet of medical demon blood in it to pour it over her rice. The old demoness lit up a cigarette and continued watching TV. It reminded her when these things first came out, it was probably 60 or 65 years ago and they had tiny black and white screens.

The telephone rang. Misaki picked it up: "Hello?" Then a familiar voice said: "Good morning great great grandmother!" "Dammit! Either call me Misaki or Misaki-sama! It hate being referred to as an elder!" Misaki answered. The voice on the other side then giggled. "Whats so funny? Want me to run to Kumimoto and beat you? What do you want anyways?" Misaki said slightly angered. Then the voice said: "Well grandmother... I mean Misaki-sama, your birthday is coming up soon. Will you come to the clan estate or do we have to visit you?" "Just come over here because I still have the responsibility to run this school and cannot leave my students behind. You guys can set up on the field in front of the school. I do not have enough room inside of the school walls for 3000 people of first three generations and of the last eight generations of closer relatives. That is the problem when you grow so old. You have probably 10000 relatives but only know 300 of their names. Now I need to go and wake up the students. I will see you in about a week." Misaki answered.

Misaki then got up to knock on the doors of the sleeping quarters of her students. "Wake up. Breakfast is ready in about 15 minutes." Misaki said in a friendly tone. She then went back to the kitchen and continued making breakfast.

Mitsuko opened her eyes slowly, to find the letter that she received from one of her father's messengers yesterday still held tightly in her right hand. She slowly released her grip and opened it, standing up and smoothing it out on her desk. She unfolded it and read it for the thousandth time.
"Dearest Mitsuko,
Tomorrow I will be visiting your school to see how you are coming along. Please warn the headmaster ahead of time so that she is ready for my arrival. See you then.
Your Father,
Lord Hiroshi of the Water Demons"
She sighed and tossed the note on her desk, "Not even and I love you. Even my father doesn't accept me... still."
Suki threw on her black kimono and tied her black hair up in a tight bun. She got her extremely dark hair and pale complexion from her mother, though her father had black hair also, but it gleamed purple-ish. She did, however, get her red eyes from him, and her un-natural strength and speed.
She glared at the note and finally picked it up and tossed it on the floor before stomping on it. The note turned into a puddle of water, and her socks got soaked, so she traded them for a dry pair and stepped out of the room.
"Good morning, Misaki-sama." Mitsuko greeted with a dull smile. "I would like to warn you, my father plans to visit today, I hope that is all right. Do you need any help?"

Kenji sat atop the roof of Amato-Ku, staring at the rising sun. He couldn't sleep, like usual, and instead decided to sneak out and get some fresh air. It was Kenji's last year here, but he didn't want it to be. He had come to love this school and the people in it. They had treated him like family, even after what his own kin did to him. But he'd never tell them how he felt. He was the troublemaker. The nut case, and he had to uphold that image. Spread out in front of him was a map of the school he had drawn up after his first year. The paper was wrinkled and some of the ink was fading away, but it would still be what he used to cause mayhem. Sadly though, Misaki was getting harder to bother. She had pretty much figured out Kenji's ideas, and somehow always stopped him just before he could execute any of his plans. Not this time old woman! A grin came over his face while he wrote down his latest scheme. He folded up the old map and stuffed it into his pocket, then slid over to the edge of the rooftop. Leaning over, he peered into the kitchen. Misaki hadn't returned yet, though he could hear her coming back. He won't have much time. Ten or fifteen seconds tops. Piece of cake!

Kenji dropped into the kitchen silently, checking his surroundings to make sure no one else was in there. He had gone over this idea of his for the past week or so, and nothing could ruin it! He pulled a banner out of his coat pocket and strung it up on the wall, which read: Happy birthday Misaki, you old hag you! Kenji grinned proudly at his artwork, however crude it was. Grabbing a handful of rice he climbed up the wall and sat on the rafters above the door, waiting for the headmaster to return to the kitchen.

Adachi had spent his night like he did every night , wandering from shadow to shadow to get close enough to the sleeping students to hear if they were having nightmares. If they were he would breath deeply , sucking a white gas like substance from them , through the walls and in to his mouth. He rarely whent hungry here and he loved that the mountains gave a darkness to the place he could not find in any city , it allowed him to keep his eyes open almost all of the night which ment he could see the nightmares even clearier then normal.

When he heard the head-mistress of the school call for breakfast he quickly slipped in to his room , putting on his bright , pink silk kimono , tieing his hair back in to a pony tail and letting it fall down his back before he exitted the room , walking like any normal person with his eyes closed now. He whent to the dining hall quickly , sitting down in a corner and resting his back against the wall before giving a light burp. "Heh , sapose I over ate a little...I should be carefull , might lose my figure at this rate."

Mitsuko came in first and said: "Good morning, Misaki-sama. I would like to warn you, my father plans to visit today, I hope that is all right. Do you need any help?" Misaki smiled and said: "Dont worry. Despite being his elder, being the leader of a older and larger clan, I get along with him well. But I need to scold him, because he doesnt visit you often enough. Food is almost done."

Misaki then turned around and noticed the banner that read: Happy birthday Misaki, you old hag you! Misakis eye kind of twitched. "Hmm. I must have not noticed that when I came in here." Misaki said and looked up towards one of Kenjis usual hiding places, seeing Kenji. "Come down from there. Your pranks get old when you live here long enough. I bet you dont even know how old I turned. I am far older than you think. My age is 1114 today. Do you expect me to get angry and cut you a new hole with my sword?"

Adachi then showed up letting out a slight burp: "Heh, suppose I overate a little... I should be careful, might lose my figure at this rate." "Typical. Instead of waiting for breakfast, he eats the dreams of others." Misaki said. "Well. You people can start eating. Food is already prepared." She pointed to the omelettes, rice and other stuff she made. It looked like she wasted money to buy lots of food. But in reality, she saved so much over the years that if her clan was lazy and unemployed, she could support them with food, shelter and vacation for the next 200 years. Misaki lit up another cigarette.

"On the news, there was a report for an upcoming competition for melee and swordfighting. Is anyone interested in representing the school?" Misaki said. "Well, anyways, we will be doing a little field trip to a landscape behind Kumimoto to show what happens when you lose control over your feel for strength and use excessive force. Afterwards we can go downtown."

Karma was sitting in her room reading a book on History when Misaki had annouced breakfast was ready. Karma was technically in her second year accordinly to her age, but she had been here all her life, so it was more like her 14th year. She had put her book down and put on her Kimono, which she had made herself. She then went into the kitchen, but after the Headmaster had taken down the banner that Kenji had put up. She then heard Adachi burp outloud, even though it was slight. "Excuse you Adachi." She knew that he didnt have that much table manners, but always seem to use hers. "Happy birthdy mother." She said to Misaki, calling her mother like she almost always did did because she was her mother figure. She then grabbed some food and bowed as thankness for the food and sat down. "Mother, i would like to compete in this competetion, though i would need more training in my hand-to-hand fighting." She knew she was one fo the best at the School at basically everything, but then she wasnt the best at hand-to-hand fighting, more like one of the worse in that area. She was also excited to get out of the school, she loved going downtown, even though she rarly bought anything.

Mitsuko smiled at Misaki. Her teacher seemed to be one of the few people (or demons) in the world that treated her like, Mitsuko.
"Thank you. But, you cannot blame him, he is the leader of a large clan, he has lots of things to do." She grabbed a bowl and placed some food in it, trying not to look too greedy.
She looked out a window, father is coming today. I wonder if he's still upset about mother's death. Will he be bringing any of his fellow clan members with him as he did last time?
Suki turned from the window and sat down to eat. She saw the sign, but payed no mind to it. Mere human's stupid tricks gave her no more respect for them, even though she was part human. But she's also part demon. In a class all of her own, smacked right in the middle, not getting any respect from either side.
She finished her food and offered to wash the dishes when Karma walked in.
Once again, Mitsuko paid no attention to the younger human girl. She may do what she wants, I do not care. She thought as she scrubbed her bowl clean.

Kenji stared down at Misaki. "You could at least pretend to be surprised ya know.." He dropped down from the rafters next to Karma. "You know Misaki, you're threats are starting to get as old as my pranks." He grabbed a bowl and filled it with food, soon taking a seat next to Adachi. "You eat too much, you know that?" He laughed. Despite the shadow demon's style of eating, Kenji got along pretty well with him. While he ate, he looked around the room at everyone before his gaze stopped on Karma. "Hey, if you need help with your melee skills, I could help." He nodded at the katana that rested on his back. Out of all the swords he had, this specific one never left his body. The others were nicely placed on the wall in his room. He yawned a bit from the lack of sleep he had gotten, but Kenji would get over it. He just had to go do something for a while. After he finished his breakfast, he thanked Misaki and jumped out the window, shouting over his shoulder. "I'll be at the Training grounds until we're ready to go!"

Adachi looked up and at his teacher almost stunned. "It's your birthday? and you didint tell us!? Drat , I could have contacted my parents , they would have loved to at least send a present to the demon who could finally put -my- life in order." Adachi laughed lightly. "All jokes aside , happy birthday Teacher , I hope this year treats you as well as your last." Adachi did not known his teacher long , so he hoped that when he wished her a 'good a year as the last' that it was a good thing. Adachi also turned to Karma and gave a light bow despite sitting and smiled. "Thank you for excusing me." That was about as close to dinner manners Adachi had.

Adachi then turned his attention to Mitsuko and tilted his head. "Your father is visiting? I have heard tales that he gives off a aura that frightens people." Adachi quickly grinned at his own comment. "How delightfull it will be to meet him." Before she could answer Mitsuko whent to clean her bowl and then Adachi turned to Kenji with a smirk. "I may eat too much but at least -my- food wont go straight to my stomach." Adachi laughed and looked away from Kenji. "I'm sure you and your gut have nothing to worry about tho." Adachi and Kenji often traded stupid little jokes like that and for the most part they seemed to get along well enough , bringing some level of truth to the saying 'trouble atracts trouble'.

Adachi turned back to his teacher and smiled , straighting up slightly. "So is this contest open to demons as well? I hope it is , if it is can I go? I am sure I will be a -great- rep for the school and I promise not to shame it in any way!" Adachi looked forward to tournaments , challenges or any kind of fight that was on good terms. It was exhausting , fun and usually it gave Adachi insight in to how he should fight.

Karma looked up as Kenji came through the rafters, then she got up and went to clean her bowl. She then heard Kenji's question to see if she needed help. "Well its more of my hand-to-hand combat area i need training on. But sure" She siad before he jumped through the window. She then bowed again to Misaki and went back to ehr room and grabbed her katana, incase she wanted to teach Kenji some skills also. She then went outside and put her sword down against one of the stone walls. "So what are we going to do first Kenji. And you need to stop messing with Misaki, or i can make you." She said with smirk. "And after you help me train, maybe i can help you train, if you want." She said as she streached and got ready to train, she really hated fighting hand-to-hand 'Too unpredictible...' she thought as she stood up and going infront of Kenji.

Kenji yawned again and cracked his knuckles. "Well, first let's see how good you are at fighting in general." He unsheathed the sword on his back and slid into a low stance. He hated fighting women. He didn't like the feel of it. But, it was just training, so it wasn't anything he should worry about. Still, I hope my nerves don't stop me like usual.. Kenji decided to strike first. He darted forward, the tip of his blade aiming straight for Karma's chest. Before he got too close, he quickly changed his stance completely. He slid back and to the left, bring the edge of his katana towards the girl's side. This odd fighting style of switching positions and points of attack were common in his clan. It's how they became so well known for their skills, and one of the things that made Kenji so good at using a sword. Of course, he didn't have his other blades to help him, so at the moment he couldn't go all out.

Karam has watched Kenji in the past train, so she knew his general fighting style, but attackin g her when she had no sword on her, 'Ok if he wants to play that way...' Karma thought to herself. She knew that he would changed his stance so she didnt flinch at the first strike, but when it came frrm the side, isntead of dodging it, she just kicked it back, something that she has wanted to try for awhile. "Really Kenji, pulling a sword on me when i dont have my own. Tsk Tsk."KArma said as she rolled and grabbed her katana and came back, as she came she slid, kicking dirt up into Kenji's face then pushing him back for him to lose his balance, she then swung the dull end of her sword at his legs, using the dull end so it wouldn't hurt him much.

"Well, people feared my aura when I was young too, but back then fighting was a daily thing. It was mostly fighting bandits and ea... I mean making use of what they had on them." Misaki said. She didn't want her students to know that she lived off the flesh and blood of humans and demons. She always had said that the red fluid she put in her rice was a special sauce with her medication in it, although it was blood she got from the medical center.

But now it was time to get ready and head to the place she fought another powerful demon 1000 years ago. Misaki went to her room to change her clothes. This was one of the times she didnt really wear a kimono, a field trip. She put on a short sleeve black turtleneck, a short red skirt and a thin white zip-up hoodie. Misaki then grabbed her weapon set and headed out. She needed these clothes to be able to drive and move more freely and she couldnt just take her old outfit that looked like a waloli outfit and her armor that was made of the bones of demons that have fallen before her. It just reminded her of bad times when she ruthlessly killed humans as a young demon.

Misaki opened the gate to the school and grabbed the van. "Okay, everyone ready to go?" She called out to the others.

Kenji's eyesight became slightly blurred when Karma kicked dirt in his face. "Hey, that's playing dirty!" He laughed. "Oof!" Karma had pushed Kenji off balance, but luckily he was able to fall back onto his hands and kicked his feet up into a handstand, barely avoiding the dull sword that was aimed at his legs, but not avoiding the attack all together. The tip of the blade had cut his leg, which left a shallow gash that would easily heal. He walked back a few feet on his hands before dropping back down to his feet, rubbing the dirt out of his eyes and glancing down at the cut. "Ow. Nice hit Karma." As he got ready to attack her again, he heard Misaki call out from the front of the school. Kenji heaved a dissapointed sigh and slid his katana back into it's sheath. "I guess we'll have to finish this later then." He said, running off to the front of the school grounds where his headmaster was waiting with the van. He was a little happy he didn't have to continue fighting Karma. He could feel his stupid nerves creeping up on him, telling him to stop. Kenji slowed down to a brisk walk as he neared the van, soon jumping inside and kicking his feet up onto the seat in front of him. "Ready!"

Adachi moved to watch the fight outside and smirked as he watched the two. He found it odd that Kenji had any time for his little tricks with how much he must have trained and Karma asking for help was a event to good to pass up. How ever Adachi quickly turned around when he heard they were going to leave and with a nod started to head off.

Adachi quickly ran to his room , ditching his Kimono and exchanging it for his own body , warping his apearence to look like a suit. After pulling his hair out of the pony tail and letting it fall freely he ran to the van , jumped in and smacked Kenji's feet off his seat. "Ready and willing , teach!" With that he grinned and straightnened up the shadow coat he was wearing. "I find it amazing we dont stand out more then we do."

Karma wwas about to strike again, but Musaki has called for everyone. "Thanks, and definatly, so i can show you what you clan hadnt taught you." She put her Katana onto her back, leaving it open to notic, she then walked calmly to the van, and climbing in, sitting behind Kenji. "So mother, may i compete in the compettion, me or Adachi would win in honor." She said as she smiled, looking over at Adachi. She then poked Kenji's head "i didnt mean to cut you, but i was truly expecting you to dodge it, iorry Kenji."

Kenji gave Adachi a quick nudge glare, which turned into a laugh when he kicked his feet off the seat. "I was comfortable ya know." "I find it amazing we dont stand out more then we do." Kenji laughed again, sitting up in his seat. "Well I think you stand out the most Adachi." He rubbed the back of his head, and turned around to look at Karma. Oddly enough, she was closer then he had thought, and he ended up an inch or two in front of her face. Kenji's eyed widened a little as he slid back into his seat, his face a little red. "Er..It's alright. It didn't really hurt, and besides... It'll heal after a while.." His face grew little darker as he spoke, and he tried to shake it off, with no luck.

Mitsuko nodded and followed Misaki to the van. She sighed as she quietly listened in to the other's conversations. She'd speak only if acknowledged.
Her attention was directed out the window, she could only think of her father, and couldn't get him out of her mind. He loved mother, but did he ever love me? She wondered, looking out the window, I'm an in between, not human, not demon, I'm a mutt. Obviously he's ashamed of me.
Suki sighed, closing her eyes and tried to remember her mother's face to no avail. So she thought of her school, and her classmates. She never really felt close to any of them, they were all either a demon or a human, so she didn't feel that she was really important to them, just someone who was there.
She bit her lip, there was only one year left for her after this year, but then what?

Misaki saw Mitsuko look like she was kind of sad. "Hey Mitsuko. Whats on your mind? Is it your father? Dont worry. If he is a bit early, then he will find a note with my number on it so he can call. I will make sure that your father acts more like a father figure to you." Misaki said. As the others got into the van, Karma asked if she or Adachi could participate in the competition. "Sure why not. You two have enough competence to stand a chance in the competition." Misaki answered to Karma.

Misaki then started to drive. "The place we are going today is an area shortly behind Kumimoto that has many seemingly natural ditch-like formations. There is folklore about it. It is the story about the unity of the demon nations that took place almost 1000 years ago. The ruler of the southern demon nation was a tyrant. The ruler of the northern demon nation was a good hearted person and a master samurai. They both held great power, but one day came war between the north and the south. On the day of the battle the leader of the south came with his full army, while the leader of the north came alone. After having his strongest fighter lose in a one on one fight against the leader of the north, the leader of the south decided to fight one on one with the leader of the north. The tyrant slashed wildly only to be blocked, then his attacks got stronger beginning to leave marks in the landscape. Sometime his attacks were so stronger that they formed ditches. The leader of the north remained calm and blocked or dodged the attacks." Misaki told.

At this time of the story, they were through the small city of Kumimoto and reached the landscape where huge ditches scarred the grassy land. Misaki then continued her story as they crossed a bridge over the largest ditch that seemed to be bent in a different direction than the others: "At the point where the leader of the north thought it would be best, the northerner made one single slash that broke the sword of the tyrant from a distance. It cause the wind to cut into the ground like a sword itself and anyone who stood too close was torn apart by the shockwave. With that the leader of the north had ended the war in just one day and unified the north and south and became the unified nations ruler until the demon nation became part of the unified Japan 500 years later. The story is a myth to the people nowadays but I saw what happened that day and it was touching."

Misaki then pulled up to a parking lot in the middle of the landscape after driving for about 20 minutes and got out of the van. "Okay this is it. Today I will teach you the basics to cutting someone without even touching them with your sword." Misaki said before she lit up another cigarette.

Adachi looked down and back at Kenji with a grin on his face. "If you go any redder people are going to mistake you for a tomato demon." Adachi gave a light chuckle and then sat down in his seat to listence to the teachers story , when it was finished and they parked Adachi hopped out quickly and streched. "Ahhhh , smell that fresh burning air...Bleh." Adachi shaked his head before going over to Misaki and trying to whisper to her. "Hey , teacher...were -you- the great demon that did all this by blocking and what not?"

Adachis interest in the matter was so much that he had even cracked open the two eyes on the right side of his face to get a clear view at Misaki. It was clear that the sun was bothering him and he planned to close them the instant Misaki was done talking , but he wanted to make sure that he heard and saw her answer as clearly as possible.

Adachi had gone to Misaki and asked if she was the great demon who had done all this. "Nah. I couldn't have done this. I only watched what had happened." She lied. It was better for people to not know Misakis past than to know it, since she was also the source of many moralistic horror stories such as "The Monster who comes to eat dishonest people." or "The Shadow that consumes children who lie."
"Adachi. But I know the technique that the great demon used and I can show you how it works." Misaki said to Adachi. She pulled out her odachi and then said to the others: "Today we will be learning the razor wind technique. It will require lots of practice." Misaki stood about 20 meters (65 feet) from a dead knocked over tree. She exhaled calmly and told herself to just do a weak blow, so she wouldnt overdo it nor awaken suspicion from the others that she might have been the heroes of the myth. "Now watch and follow my movement." Misaki said. She then angled her blade and made a slash upwards. It seemed as nothing had happened but then the tree split in half and through the crack, it was noticeable that the ground behind the tree had formed into a small ditch. Crap. I underestimated myself again. Misaki thought.

Karma looked surprized from what Adachi said to Kenji. 'Kenji blushed?' She thought to herself, she hadn't even noticed. 'Kenji was kind of handsome, but hes a 5th year anyways, ehh dont even think about it Karma' She kept thinking to herself.
She then had gotten out after Adachi and him and Misaki. She then watched what Misaki was going to do. She was wasnt surprised that she actually did it, it was just amazing it could be done, but she didn't even notice the ditch behind the tree. "So Mother, could humans be able to do this too, or just demons?"

Kenji hopped out of the car behind Adachi and hit his side as he shook himself out of the weird daze he had gotten into. "I'm not that red!" He barked. But, he quieted down when Misaki began to demonstrate what they were going to learn. He was in slight shock that his headmaster could still use such a powerful attack. After all, she was over 1000 years old. But the attack wasn't the thing that impressed Kenji the most. What impressed him was the ditch Misaki had made. "Woah!" He ran over to the ditch and looked down it. "How the hell did you do that!" He shouted excitedly, reaching for the katana on his back.

Adachi closed his eyes the instant Misaki said it wasint her and then slumped forward slightly. "Damn , my hive would of -had- to show me respect if I was being taught by a demon that could do this." Adachi gaped and let his jaw go slack as Misaki not only cut the dead tree in half but made a small crater behind it. "...Then again , thats still pretty promising."

Adachi grinned and held out his hands , taking stance before a wave of shadow moved from the ground to his hand and made a Odachi blade. It did not have any defined features but it was clear that Adachi was used to swinging it. With a deep breath Adachi quickly took after Misakis stance , concentrated and then swinged the sword....nothing happend. He managed to cut a menace of a leaf in half with the blade but he was not able to make any kind of force blade down by the dead tree.

With a grumble Adachi took from again , scratching a mark in to the ground to symbolize how many times he had swinged his sword trying before he took another breath and swinged again. He would repeat this process for awhile , eventually managing to get the air around his blade to push forward a bit but not with any kind of force or sharpend edge.

"Yes Karma. Humans are able to do it too. It is just a matter of mastering the technique." Misaki said. Then Kenji went over to Misaki: "How the hell did you do that!" "Well if you watched then you would have noticed the way the technique goes." Misaki said and demonstrated the technique with slow movement to avoid creating any damage. "And that is how you have to do it. But dont try it too strong. You might end up changing the landscape even more than I uh.. the great demon has." Her telling the truth almost slipped out.

Misaki remembered that she was previously the villain back then and won but soon had a change of heart, not only protecting demons but humans too.

"Afterwards, we will go over to Kumimoto to register those who want to participate in the competition. Okay?" Misaki said.