xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
hah-ṙoo-to
From Japanese 遥 (haru) meaning "distant, remote" combined with 斗 (to), which refers to a Chinese constellation
xxxxxxxxxx ＵＳＥＲＮＡＭＥ⋮⋮ ＦＬＯＷＥＲＬＩＬＹ１３５
ＧＥＮＤＥＲ⋮⋮ ＭＡＬＥ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
xxxxx Haruto is an ex-samurai, a sword for hire. He is gruff, but he cares about protecting the weak. He keeps a cold exterior and passes from village to village looking for work, making no friends or attachments. That is, until he ventured to a village he heard had been drawing a lot of thugs, thieves, bandits, you name it, all kinds of scum he wanted to rid the world of. Once he got there, Haruto asked many questions and found, to his surprise, that no one was worried about any sort of threat. Are they oblivious, or do they already have someone to help?
xxxxx “Do you have warriors?” He questioned one of the villagers.
xxxxx “Not really,” the man vaguely replied.
xxxxx “Then do you have some sort of protection?”
xxxxx “Of course.”
xxxxx “Who are the people protecting you?”
xxxxx “Oh, it’s just one person.”
xxxxx “Who is he?”
xxxxx The villager laughed, “She actually,” he pointed to a beautiful woman in a richly colored kimono with a kalon mask at her hip, “Her name’s Akane, she protects this town – we owe her so much.”
xxxxx The man went on his way.
xxxxx “I hear you’re the one who’s been protecting this village.”
xxxxx Akane smirked at him, “That is correct, and who might I be speaking to?”
xxxxx “The name’s Haruto. Tell me, how are you protecting these people on your own?”
xxxxx “oh, well, I have some help,” she said with a smile.
xxxxx “And what is that?” He questioned, genuinely intrigued at this point.
xxxxx “I guess you’ll just have to hang around for a while and find out,” she giggled and walked away.
xxxxx Haruto gawked at her as she left. Did she just flirt with him? Haruto had not thought on romantic attachments for quite some time, but still, something about her was so mysterious.
xxxxx He continued to try and figure out more about her for a few months. What she was hiding. He started to expect her for their morning walks, smile when he saw her playing with the children of the town, admiring how everyone respected and looked up to her. His cold exterior felt as if it could soften around her.
xxxxx All his questions were answered when one day, members of a gang strolled into town looking for trouble and just as Haruto was about to confront them, Akane stormed ahead. She removed the mask tied to her obi and put it on and right before his eyes in her place was a lithe kalon. This, of course, scared the thugs away.
xxxxx Ever since that day, Akane opened to Haruto and he did the same. Eventually, it was obvious they were sweet on one another. When they finally announced their love for one another, Akane gifted a strap from her mask to him. A red silk string that would allow him to turn into a kalon and fight alongside her.
(497/500)
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
