• Ch. 1
    There are many types of stories… Adventure, Danger, Friendship, and Romance… well, this story has all of those features… but at a time… Our story begins on the small island of Shiguro with a 15 year old boy by the name of Shimo and his grandma…

    Beep! Beep! Beep! “Agh…” moaned Shimo… Shimo never liked waking up to the sound of that incessant beeping every morning… but in order to take care of his grandma it was necessary. His grandma was getting old…. Very old… but she raised Shimo and he loves her very much. And his Grandma loves him as well… “Alright, alright already shut up!” Said Shimo as he shut off his alarm clock and slipped out of bed very slowly.
    Shimo wasn’t like any other teenager his age. He lived with no one but his grandma and his dog. And his grandma is a very generous women and never does anything to upset Shimo so he had no reason to be rebellious… he had not many friends at all that he knew of other than Li… so he had no reason to sneak out or drink with anyone. He was a saint compared to most teenagers. Shimo dug in his closet and through his drawers to find his daily clothes, slipped them on, and went down stairs to greet his grandma.
    “Hey Grandma.” He said in his casual voice to her as he usually did.
    “Hello Shimo! Good morning!”
    “What you want to eat?”
    “Oh that’s okay babe you don’t need to fix me anything.” Shimo was very generous and always did whatever he could to take care of her.
    “I want to Grandma. I’ll fix you the usual okay?” He said as he fixed eggs, sausages and one pancake for both of them as he handed it to his grandmother and placed his in his seat.
    “Thank you Shimo! What would I do without you?” They smiled and ate. But he noticed a hint of guilt and sadness beneath his grandmother’s face…
    “Hey, you okay?” He asked
    “Oh yes I’m fine dear….” She replied.
    “You sure?” He asked again.
    “Yeah… your foods going to get cold Shimo. Eat up!” she said with a fake smile.
    After eating breakfast Shimo visited with his grandma as he daily did then asked, “Hey, I’m gonna run to town real quick. Anything you want me to get for you?”
    “Oh no I’m fine dear… thank you…”
    “Okay but I’m getting you those Xyn fruits you like.” He said with a smile
    “Okay dear thank you.” Said his grandma with another smile which turned right into a frown as soon as Shimo left. She was deep in thought about what was troubling her. Shimo had a bike instead of a car since town was only about a half a mile away and his island was small. He was glad today was a nice day. He worried about his grandmother a lot of the time because of her age but somehow nice days made that go away. When he finally reached town he looked through the fruits first for his grandmother’s special Xyn fruit. Then moved on to other markets for his essential items he came for. Basic groceries. Once he had everything he needed he visited his friend, Li’s stand as he always did when he came into town.
    “Hey Shimo! What’s new?” Li said as Shimo stepped in with a bit of a frown. Li was Shimo’s friend who was well in his 20’s. Ever since Shimo came to this island they have been. Li was the first person Shimo met. But he now knows everybody on his small island.
    “Hey Li… and nothing much… can we talk?”
    “Sure Shimo come in the back and tell me what’s on your mind.” He said as they stepped into the back room where he always went to talk to Li about his problems.
    “It’s my grandma again… I’m worried Li… she’s not as healthy as she was ya know… it kinda worries me…”
    “Shimo… if there’s one thing I’ve told you it’s that your grandma may not be as young as she was but she’s just as healthy at heart. And until that goes away she will be with you forever… you worry too much about your grandma ya know that?” He said with a smile.
    “Yea I know…” said Shimo, “But I guess your right… you usually are… thanks Li!” He said as he bid farewell to his friend.
    “Anytime kid, take care!” He said as Shimo left the market. “That Shimo’s something else… he’s a good kid!” Shimo bagged all his groceries and rode off on his bike and waved to everyone. Once he arrived back home he unloaded all the groceries and noticed his Grandmother’s expression again.
    “Grandma seriously I know something’s bothering you… come on you know you can tell me.” He said as he sat down next to her. His grandmother gave a silent sigh and explained,
    “Your right Shimo… You’re just like her…”
    “Who’s her? What are you talking about?”
    “Shimo… it’s time you learned… I can’t keep you living this lie…”
    “What lie?”
    “Oh Shimo… I’m sorry for telling you this but alright,” She began, “When you were born… you had a very loving mother and a father… They took very good care of you… But then the day came that…” His grandmother began to cry as she tried to continue. “Shimo, your parents…. They were…. They were…” She tried desperately to continue as she began crying harder. “Shimo your parents were killed… by a cult… they called themselves the… Hykashi clan…. I found you and brought you here. I was the only survivor…” She ended as she broke out into tears.
    “What?! I had…. Parents…. Ugh WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?” He yelled as he busted out the door. Now even the perfect teenager has hormones! Shimo went to his spot in the island where he always went to be alone when he was sad or upset… he was thinking long and hard about what he had just heard… he then got mad and through the rock that was in his hand at the boulder in front of him. It made a ‘click’ kind of sound that sounded hallow… he tapped on the wall and it made the same sound. He pushed on it a little and it broke into pieces. Then he looked up as he saw an entry way that appeared to be a cave. He never noticed this on the island before… he went inside and noticed something glowing deep within the tunnel… he fallowed it until he reached the end of it and looked to this wall… inside it he could see what was glowing… he dug through it and saw a gym.
    “Huh?” He said as he reached out to grab it and once he did everything went black…
    When Shimo passed out he had this dream… everything was white and there was this man he couldn’t quite see… maybe he wasn’t supposed to…
    “Who are you and where the hell am I?” He asked the strange man.
    “My, my… quite an attitude…” said the strange man
    “Just tell me what this place is? And how I got here.”
    “It’s not how you got here or where it is… but why…”
    “I don’t understand! Just tell me where I am!”
    “The Crystal… in your hand… it possesses great power…”
    “What? What kind of power?”
    “The power… of light… of coarse I wouldn’t expect a punk kid like you to understand…”
    “I’m not a punk kid!” Shimo said infuriated. He then noticed his hand glow in a strange sort of way?”
    “Huh? What the hell is this?” He demanded.
    “You’re a fool young Shimo….” Shimo was surprised.
    “How do you know my name?”
    “I know you better than you think Shimo…”
    “Shut up! You don’t know me! Just give me some answers!!!”
    “All in good time…” As he said this Shimo felt his anger grow for the first time and somehow summoned a sword to his hand and without paying much attention attacked the man. But he disappeared…
    “COWARD!!! Get back here!” He yelled out into the emptiness of the white room… “What was that?” He wondered… but as he thought he began to get an amazing headache and was out again…
    When Shimo awoke he found himself outside of the boulder that he thought was a cave. He hit it again and it made a different sound this time… it was thick… He couldn’t believe this…
    “What happened? Was that a dream… or...” He wondered to himself… He then decided things were too weird so he just went back home. On his way back Shimo wondered about his parents and how they died… Why was his life changing so much… he didn’t like it.
    “Grandma!” He yelled through the house as he stepped through the door. “Grandma?” He called again until he looked in her room and found her looking at some old photos.

    “Oh, hello Shimo…” His grandmother said to him.
    “What’s this?” He asked.
    “Your parents Shimo… I’m sorry for upsetting you and not telling you the truth earlier… I just didn’t want to hurt you…”
    “It’s okay… I’m sorry for storming out like I did… Can I see?” He asked as his grandmother handed the picture to him. “This… is my mom… and dad…? Wow…” He didn’t know why but he began to feel sad… but stopped himself
    “Can I have it?” He asked
    “Sure Shimo. It’s the least I could do.”
    “Thanks…” He sat upstairs in his room that night wondering what his parents were like. Then pulled out the picture and took another look at it… He then began feeling sad again and cried. A loose tear drop landed on his hand and it began glowing again, he didn’t notice. Then he remembered that mysterious man in is dream. Then began to feel mad again. He felt like getting a sword and killing that man… He opened his eyes and saw a white sword with what looked like a gust of wind around it but was actual part of the sword.
    “Huh? What the…?” He stared at it. “How did I…?” He wondered then remembered his dream and dropped the sword knocking over his drawer as it made a loud crashing sound to the floor. “Uh Oh” He said
    “Shimo!” His grandmother called from downstairs, “Is everything alright up there?” She asked
    “Uh… yea grandma everything’s fine!” He answered back as he quickly tried fixing the broken mess in his room. As he lied in bed that night he had so much on his mind… everything was so different now… his life was changing… he couldn’t keep living this way… he had to do something about it… as he thought of a decision he slowly rested his head to sleep.
    The next morning he had to go to town to see Li so he told his grandmother and quickly left for the marketplace. When he arrived he ran to Li’s stand and busted through the door.
    “Li! I need you!” He demanded
    “Sure Shimo what’s up?”
    “Come to the back. I’ll tell you everything!” As he explained to Li what had happened to him the day before he shared his decision with Li.
    “Li, I know it sounds crazy but something’s happening. I need to get answers! So… I’ve made a decision… I’m leaving Shiguro…”
    “What?! What you can’t leave Shimo! This stuff might not even matter. Its just a dream.”
    “It’s not just the dream… I need to find out about my parents… I can’t do this alone Li… I need your help.”

    “Sure Shimo but what can I do?”
    “I was hoping you could take care of grandma while I’m gone…”
    “Gee Shimo… I don’t know… I have a job to do and….”
    “Li… please! I have to do this…” He begged. Li looked around, held his head. And looked back up at Shimo.
    “Alright…” he said with a sigh, “but only because this means so much to you!”
    “Ah Arigato Li!”
    “No problem… Good luck with your journey Shimo… I hope you find what you’re looking for. And remember every bit of advice I’ve given you!”
    “I will Li…” He said as they hugged and he thanked him again then bid farewell to his friend.
    When Shimo arrived back home he told his grandmother about what he experienced yesterday just as he did with Li and asked for her blessing.
    “You don’t need my blessing Shimo… I’ve foreseen this day coming for a long time… I just have to let go… you must find your own destiny now… But know that whatever happens… I love you Shimo…” She said with a tear running down her cheek.
    “Thanks grandma… I love you too… And I’ll never forget you…” He said as he whipped his grandmother’s tears “And don’t worry… I’ll be back someday…”
    “I know you will Shimo… Just… be careful…”
    “I will… And Li will take care of you while I’m gone okay?” He said gave his grandma a big hug that lasted for what seemed like forever and as he finally bid the one thing in this world he cared for the most he remembered his life here in his island and bid it farewell as well. Then he took the islands ferry and left with tears in his eyes as he waved good-bye to his home.
    “I… I don’t know what I’m looking for… or what I’ll find… but... I will come back with answers!” He promised himself.


    Ch.2


    After one day he saw the ferry was approaching a city. There was a big sign that said “THE CITY OF, NAGUMI” Shimo found this name odd but was glad he was finally escaping his sea sickness. When the ferry hit land Shimo paid his fee to the captain and took a long look at the city before him.
    “Well…” he said “The journey begins…” He walked into the city and it was amazingly crowded. He was beginning to get very hungry… Shimo usually ate a lot. Then noticed a store with food in it! He dug in his pocket and found nothing…
    “Damn… must’ve used it all on my money on the ferry…” He said as a bad idea popped in his head. “Grandma… please forgive me for what I’m about to do…” He said as he walked into the store. It was crowded so he suspected he could get away with it. He needed food, so he stole some bread from the store and walked out casually.
    “Excuse me sir, you gonna pay for that?” The lady working the cashier asked.
    “s**t…” Shimo whispered to himself as he threw a chair behind him and ran out of the store.
    “STOP THIEF!” Yelled the lady apparently to his dismay some cops heard her and chased after him.
    “This isn’t good…” Shimo said as he disappeared for a moment into the crowd. And cut into an alley. The cops seemed to not notice because they ran right past him. Shimo sighed and turned around and ran into a girl holding books and knocked them both to the ground.
    “Oh I’m sorry!” He said to the girl “Here, let me…” He said as he looked up at her and noticed her face. She looked about his age and had longish short brown hair with glasses. She appeared to be a librarian… Shimo didn’t notice himself blushing when the girl giggled. He helped her pick up the books and handed them to her.
    “Uh… here…” He said, he must not have noticed himself starring because the girl said,
    “Um… what’re you looking at?” With a bit of a giggle at the end.
    “Huh… oh… sorry…” He said feeling stupid.
    “Uh… listen… I’m really sorry about the books and was hoping I could… walk you home or something… ya know… to make up for it…” He asked. The girl giggled again and faltered her head blushing then turned to him again.
    “Sure why not!” She answered twirling her hair with a smile.
    “Okay great!” He said with a smile as well. As they walked Shimo couldn’t help but ask her some questions.
    “So… ya got a name?” He asked
    “Yea, I’m Kiyoko, what about you? You gotta name?” She asked with a giggle.
    “Yea, Shimo.” He answered
    “Ah… I see… so Shimo, what brings you to Nagumi?”
    “It’s a long story and partially... well… ridiculous…”
    “I don’t mind.” She said smiling
    “Well… I lived on a small island called Shiguro with my grandmother… apparently she saved me from my old city…”
    “Saved you?” She asked
    “Yeah… my village was destroyed… along with my parents…”
    “Oh… I’m so sorry…”
    “Its fine… but I’m looking for answers… on who killed my family… and there was this dream…”
    “Do you care to tell me about it?”
    “Uh… Well… I was on my island… and there was this cave I’ve never seen before… and I fallowed this light… it was a crystal… then… I think I passed out… and some weird stuff happened but began happening to me…”
    “Ah… I see…”
    “It sounds stupid… I know…”
    “I don’t think so…” she smiled. Shimo faced her and smiled as well. “Well… this is it… my apartment…”
    “You have an apartment? Why don’t you live with your parents?” He asked.
    “Don’t have any… I was an orphan… and when the orphanage closed I was able to go to college for all my schooling and became a librarian…” She explained
    “Oh… that would explain the books.” He said to her
    “Yeah it would.” She said with a laugh.
    “Well… I guess I’ll see ya around…”
    “Ya… I guess… thanks…” she said. They looked at each other… then she went inside.
    “Damn…” He said with a sigh as he walked off.
    Shimo had no place to stay… so he had no choice but to find a suitable place somewhere in the city and rest. It began raining so he found shelter fast. A nice… uh… bench under a pillar by a museum…
    The next day it was nice and bright outside. He was very lonely but today’s nice weather made him feel a little better… he already missed his grandma and Li and his island… Shimo was still hungry. Then remembered his bread. After consuming it very fast he was still starving… he couldn’t steal again… He wondered where that girl, Kiyoko was… then remembered she was a librarian at the local library in the town and when he found the only one in the city he saw a sign on the front door that said, “CLOSED… FOR GOOD”
    “Oh no!” Shimo said. As he began to feel sorry for that girl. “What will she do now?” He wondered. It was now getting late. Shimo didn’t know where he would go from here… or what he should do here… He thought…
    “Hmm… I guess, I should try looking for the cult 1st. Or go somewhere to try and learn to control this… thing...” He thought the only place peaceful in a city like this would be the beach… so he started walking towards there… but on his way he noticed the cops who chased him yesterday. So he slipped into a nearby alley… once they were gone he started hearing something… it started as a low echoes… then grew to a scream… someone needed help! He fallowed the scream until it led him to the end of the next alley from where he was. He noticed a girl and some thugs standing over her…
    “Hey!” he yelled to them “What do you think your doing?” The men looked at him and Shimo walked toward them.
    “Hey, listen kid; this ain’t none of your business! So why don’t you get lost before I cut your eyes out!” The man on the right said
    “Yea!” Said his buddy next to him. Shimo noticed the girl they mugged. He was surprised to see who it was… Kiyoko!
    “Listen, both of you should leave before I get really mad!”
    “It’s… that boy… from last night… Shimo…” Kiyoko said to herself.
    “Really?” The man on the right said as him and his buddy laughed. “And just what will you do if we don’t huh tough guy?” Shimo began to get extremely angry. Like he was the other day when he was still on his island and his grandma told him about his parents. Then, without noticing his hand began glowing again. Then, he summoned a sword to his hand again. It was the same one. But this one was huge.
    “Or I’ll beat you to death…” He said with his head hung low as a grin grew on his face.
    “What? That’s… impossible!” Said the man’s buddy.
    “Now… I’m not asking… so I’ll say it again… Leave her the hell alone!!!” yelled Shimo as he slammed his sword into the ground.
    “Hey maybe we should do what he says, Fulicia…” Said his buddy again.
    “No… I wanna see if he knows how to use that thing…” Said the man apparently called Fulicia.
    “Very well… but I’ll show no mercy on a low life like you!” Said Shimo with a smile as he rushed at Fulicia as hard and fast as possible. Then, with a hard swing, cut the man’s side open, knocking the man down on his back dropping his knife as Shimo put the sword up to his neck.
    “I’ll kill you!” Shimo said with a grin. Then remembering his grandmother’s saying. “No person in this world deserves death…” Shimo smiled and let off of the man.
    “Leave now! Before I change my mind…” Said Shimo. Then the two thugs ran off as fast as they could. Shimo approached Kiyoko “You okay?” He asked holding out a hand to help her up.
    “Yes… thank you… Shimo…” she said crying as she hugged him.
    “Uh…” Shimo said as his expression quickly changed from surprise to comfort. “Don’t worry about it… I couldn’t let them hurt you… but… what exactly happened?” He asked.
    “It was horrible… I was walking home from my last day of work and… I took a short cut… but… those men were fallowing me… I ran but they caught me… and… one of them climbed on my while the other held a knife to my throat and told me not to move… And… and…” Shimo could see she was in pain…
    “Stop… its okay… I get it…” He said as she hugged him again.
    “Shimo… thank you so much… I am truly grateful…”
    “Its okay…” he said “Come on… lets walk…” he said as she fallowed him and they walked through the city and headed for the beach…
    As they walked along the coast of the beach they talked about everything about themselves while the sun set…
    “Ya know… In someway… I always knew I had parents…” Said Shimo “Because… I always felt like a part of me was missing… I just… couldn’t figure out what it was…” He continued “ But... now that I know… I wish I didn’t…” Tears began to fill his eyes.
    “Hey, Shimo… its okay to cry if you really need to… its times like these where… I think a boy should let out what he needs to…”
    “My parents…” Said Shimo in tears… “I miss them…” He said as he hung his head and Kiyoko held out her hand to his. Shimo reached for it and squeezed it and looked her in the eyes, “Thank you… Kiyoko…” He said to her as they laid back and watched the sun set… Kiyoko fell asleep on Shimo’s chest. And he held her head as the sun setting colors turned to dark night…
    The next day Shimo decided there was nothing here for him so he should move on to the next town in search for his parent’s killers… and his inner powers…
    “I guess… this is good-bye…” Said Shimo
    “Guess so…” Said Kiyoko.
    “I’m sure gonna miss you Kiyoko… thank you for everything…”
    “I should be thanking you… I will miss you too!” She said as she began to cry. Then she leapt into him and they hugged good-bye. But this hug somehow felt different to Shimo. He could tell Kiyoko felt it too; he didn’t want it to end… But the ferry was departing so he had to.
    “Good-bye Kiyoko…”
    “Good-bye Shimo…” As Shimo began boarding the boat he heard a faint voice… then turned around and saw it was Kiyoko
    “Wait!” She yelled “I wanna go with you!” She said as Shimo smiled and held out his hand to her and pulled her aboard. It was now around sun set, Shimo and Kiyoko were now traveling together and needed to know a bit more about each other…
    “Hey Shimo…” Asked Kiyoko
    “Hm?” He mumbled while entranced in his thoughts.
    “There’s one thing that’s been killing me…”
    “What’s that…?” He asked
    “How did you do that thing you did when you saved me?”
    “I’ve been wondering the same thing… I guess… I was so focused on protecting you that my anger got the best of me… and that thing… that gives me the ability to do that is probably activated by my emotions…”
    “That’s incredible… but… why did you sacrifice so much for me? I need to know!” She asked
    “Uh… will… there are a few reasons…” He said as he looked back out at the ocean view. “But mainly because… will, we’re friends now… friends watch out for each other… but… my grandma always told me that every human’s life has value. There’s a reason for everything… like… us meeting… there’s a reason for that too…”
    “What do you think it is?” She asked
    “I don’t know… but we’ll find out!” He said as he smiled at her. She smiled back and now it was dark out…Kiyoko went to sleep early and Shimo was still awake by where him and Kiyoko were talking and thought to him for awhile. He needed to figure some things out… Like how his power works, where his parent’s killers are, and his journey ahead. He knew there would be some problems. But he was ready for anything to figure out what he was looking for.
    “I know I’ll find what I’m looking for… and when I do… there will be justice!” He said to himself. Meaning that he would do anything to avenge his parents.