Healing and Mystery
A day after the brutal assault, a Japanese nurse in a crisp kimono tended to a teenager lying unconscious. His body bore deep gnarls of injury, like bark twisted by a storm. Master Enzo Ikiemoto, grandmaster of Jyotu High School of soccerery, had taken him in.
The room's wooden door slid open. Chun-yin and Enzo entered. The nurse bowed and took her leave.
Enzo sank into a chair, stroking his old grey beard as he studied the youth, Sadori. "Chun-yin, would you mind taking away his pain for now?"
Chun-yin, his trusted healer, gripped Sadori's left hand. Veins popped in her neck as she channeled a warm glow. Moments later, bruises faded, cuts closed, and the ragged breathing steadied.
"Thank you, Chun-yin. You're a godsend," Enzo said, pleased. Since rescuing her from her village, he'd treated her like family. Now, with his grandson away, she watched over him in return.
"Master, are you sure it's really him?" Chun-yin asked, puzzled. She sensed no dragon energy in his bloodstream nothing at all.
Enzo stood, leaning on his walking stick, gazing at Sadori's limp hand as if it held a secret. "We'll see. Belzubulb, are you there? It's me, Enzo Ikiemoto, old friend."
A bluish eye flickered open on Sadori's palm. A low, harmonious voice spoke, "Old man, it's been a long time. Looks like age caught up with you."
The room erupted in laughter.
The Dream.
Sadori's eyes snapped open. He turned, disoriented, and found himself in a shrouded forest. Heart pounding, he stood barefoot, wearing a thin white T-shirt and black pants. Towering trees vanished into a cold fog.
"What the hell… how did I get here?" he muttered. His breath misted.
A grawling noise echoed. A chained shadow lurched behind trunks, hiding. Sadori followed, footfalls squelching in mud. Then he froze.
A dragon. Massive. A sword impaled its brow, and a pair of ember-red eyes locked onto him. Wings flapped, silent as thunder.
"Sadori," a voice rumbled inside the beast, the lips unmoving. "My name is Champion. I've waited centuries to meet my partner… whom I will be fighting alongside from now on, but you're too weak to hear me."
The vision blurred. Sadori shouted,
"Wait!" He jolted awake, groaning. The assault, the necklace, fragments swirled. A "champion?"
Meeting the Clan
The door opened. A Chinese woman in elegant hanfu smiled. "Sadori-san, how are you feeling?"
Her cool touch sent a shiver through his spines. He bit back a grin. "Sorry, miss… it's just"
"You're a pervert," she said, pulling her hand away, amused. He sighed, defeated.
"Where am I?"
"terma, Jyotu High School of soccerers. And here's your necklace." She handed him the undamaged charm. "Who's this special girl, Amanda Halle?" Chun-yin asked.
"Amanda…?" Sadori's heart skipped. "She's lucky to have someone like you," Chun-yin teased.
As they walked the bustling campus, students in sleek uniforms trained with eerie focus. Sadori's eyes widened.
"Wow!" A voice chuckled behind them. "Look who's here." Chun-yin sprinted, hugging a black-clad giant. "Kojou-san!" "Chu… Chun-yin, you're breaking me!" the grinning giant said, snacks spilling from his pack.
The Introduction
Enzo Ikiemoto leaned on his staff, a pleased smile creasing his weathered face. The afternoon light through the tatami-shuttered window framed him like a living scroll.
"Sadori-san," he said, his voice a bridge between worlds, "this is my grandson son, Kojou."
Kojou Ikiemoto stepped forward, his black shirt a stark contrast to Chun-yin's soft handful. He dwarfed the room, snacks tumbling from his torn pack as if even gravity deferred to his presence.
"Nice to meet you, Sadori," he rumbled, extending a massive hand. The air seemed to hum.
Sadori, still clutching his salvaged necklace, felt like a fledgling bird offered to a hawk. He took Kojou's grip warm, calloused, like a training sword's hilt.
"Last dragon lord, I presume," Kojou said, his grin a gleaming challenge. He circled Sadori, eyes narrowing as if scenting smoke on the wind. Chun-yin hovered nearby, arms crossed, amused.
Enzo chuckled, tapping his staff. "From now on, Kojou will train you. Master your fire, young lord."
Kojou halted, his peridot-orange gaze snapping back. "I wasn't expecting you so soon. But… very strange." He leaned to whisper to Chun-yin "Has he shown any signs?" Chun-yin's voice was a quiet counterpoint. "No. Except that explosion in Shinjuku we saw a few weeks ago."
Enzo's voice overrode the doubt:
"Your potential is a spark, Sadori. Kojou will fan it."
The grandmaster's words hung like a challenge. Sadori looked up Kojou towered, a storm in stillness,impatient to unfurl.
"It's… nice to meet you, Kojou Sensei," Sadori said, the words a little lost. Kojou snorted, a hint of a laugh. "We'll make sure you're not just a rumor, dragon."