Chapter 1

Hey guys Lord of runes coming out with a brand new story that was inspired by my love for pirates, and the character "John Silver" in Treasure planet. Which in all honesty is a pretty damn good movie, and if you haven't seen it, then your parents obviously refuse to allow you to have a child hood. Anyway I have an important announcement, two actually, since school is starting up again updates will be less frequent. And Second chances and doom slayer will be undergoing a rewrite. Now I think I've wasted enough time, So let's get into this story, shall we! I don't own anything!

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

A girl no older than fifteen-fourteen was currently running from a group of men she had stolen from, she looked down at the leather belt, which had a silver star as a belt buckle which was, like the leather, pretty worn. She wore a dirty white tee shirt, which had a few holes in it, and a pair of cargo pants with the cuffs rolled up to her knees. Her face was covered in dirt and grime This girl was none other than Leone, Leone suddenly took a sharp right, hoping she could lose them in the alley way, she got halfway down the alley way when she realized it was a dead end. She stopped herself by digging her heels into the dirt covered ground and turned around in an attempt to escape the way she came, but her hopes were dashed when she saw the group of men that were chasing her, which was about six guys, blocking the entrance/exit of the alley way. She frantically looked from left to right looking for another way to escape.

'Maybe I can scale the wall,' but the walls were too high to scale and too far spread out to leap from wall to wall. 'Damn!'

"C'mon girlie, just give us our payday back, and we won't have to hurt you too bad!" the one in the middle said with a crazed smile. This man appeared to be in his mid thirties, his facial features were far from handsome, and were wrinkled. He wore a black tee shirt and a pair of filthy, torn beige slacks.

"Don't hurt her too badly, i'd like to have a taste first!" The five men burst into crazed laughter before they started to slowly encroach on her. she looked at the belt one more time before she tossing it deeper into the alley "You want it, come get it" she said, and adapted a sloppy fighting style. One of the men on the far right lunged forward, attempting to strike the side of her head with a wild right hook. Leone narrowly dodged it, and threw a punch herself, which landed with a very satisfying crunch! As her fist connected with his nose, breaking it. He stumbled back into his friends, clutching his broken nose, which looked like a squashed tomato. He removed his hand from his nose, which was now stained crimson red with his blood.

"What the hell are you doing man! She's just a girl!" One of the other goons cried out as they shoved him back into the fight. He staggered forward a little bit, still in a dazed state, which was all that Leone needed to deliver the finisher. She stepped in close and delivered a powerful uppercut to the thug's chin.

"Guuuuaaaaah!" Blood poured out of the man's mouth as he bit his tongue in half, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell face first onto the dirt paved alleyway, his tongue landed with a wet slap, and slid to a stop at the other thugs feet. A small puddle of blood forming around the man's head. The five remaining men stood there in stunned silence, as they stared at their fallen comrade. Leone mentally celebrated her victory and patiently waited for the men to run in fear. However this thought was quickly crushed as the group of five looked up from their fallen comrade with hate and annoyance on their faces. The man in the middle pointed to two of his other goons, who approached Leone with rage written all over their faces.

"Kill that BITCH!" He sneered, venom oozing from his voice. The man on the far right raised his fists, while the man on the far left grinned wickedly, as he pulled a curved four inch long dagger out from under his tattered denim jacket. The man on the far the right rushed in and swung his right fist, Leone moved to dodge, but it was a fake and he struck her hard in the face with a surprise left hook, which sent her staggering back into the alley way. He then went in for a hammer fist strike, but leone dashed forward and punched him in the gut. He groaned in pain and doubled over, trying to catch his breath, but before he could Leone kneed him in the face hard. There was a loud crunch, which echoed through the alley, as his nose was broken, but the force from the knee was enough to send the shattered bone of his nose into his brain killing him instantly. He silently slumped to the ground, dark red liquid poured from his nostrils and down his face, leaving two almost black streaks down his face. She stared in disbelief at the man who was just a couple seconds ago, a living, breathing organism, granted he was trying to kill her so it was self defence. Yeah she's hurt plenty of people before, but she's never Killed anyone before. In her state of shock, she didn't notice the man on the far left sneak up from behind her, he angled his wrist so the hilt of the dagger would his her and not the blade, he swung with all his might and hit the side of her head. Leone fell to the ground with a dull thud, there was a high pitch ringing in her ears, and before she knew the man who had just struck her was straddling her waist, he had a crazed grin on his face with his hands above his head, ready to stab down.

"What the hell are you guys doing!" The man who was about to kill Leone looked over his shoulder, as did the remaining three men. Standing at the mouth of the alley was a boy no older than eleven with spiky brown hair, kind emerald green eyes, and a grime smeared face. He wore a dirty white tee shirt, a pair of brown pants that were torn a little at the cuff, and a pair of worn work boots. This boy was none other than our protagonist, Tatsumi.

"None of your business kid, get lost before you end up getting hurt." The thug in the middle said. Tatsumi looked past the group of thugs and noticed the two fallen figures, then he noticed the girl that was pinned under one of the thugs. His eyes met her's and they said one thing 'Run while you still can kid.' He then flashed her a quick smile before turning back to the group of thugs.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, you see the girl that your friend has pinned is my friend. So I can't just turn my back on her." He said, seriously.

"Is that so, well I guess that makes you guilty by association!" The man in the middle said with evil smile on his face. "Get em' boys!" The two remaining thugs, not counting the one who's pinning Leone, charged Tatsumi. The thug on the right jabbed at Tatsumi's face, which he easily sidestepped, causing the thug to lose balance. Tatsumi then grabbed the thug's arm and punched him in the elbow as hard as he could, there was a loud CRUNCH! As his arm broke. Then man collapsed to the floor unconscious, his arm bent at an awkward angle. He turned to the other thug and quirked an eyebrow, as if challenging him. The second thug looked from his fallen comrade to Tatsumi, then back to his comrade, before he threw his arms up in surrender and quickly ran past him.

"COWARD!" The man, who Tatsumi deduced must be the leader of the gang, shouted at the retreating figure.

"Guess it's just you and me now."

"Not quite." The leader said with a wide grin, Tatsumi narrowed his eyes in confusion when he saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, his eyes widened in realization but it was too late. There was a searing pain across the right side of his face, the blade of the dagger cut into his right cheek, narrowly missing his right eye, leaving a long gash with hot crimson red blood oozing from the wound. He staggered back in surprise, he touched his cheek with his left hand and saw it covered in blood, he looked up at his assailant and narrowly dodged another slash, this one was aimed for his chest.

"You're a nimble one ain't cha boy." The thug said crazily, and slashed at Tatsumi again, this time he wasn't aiming for anything in particular, he was just looking to injure him. The thug ended up slashing at his gut in a wide arc, but Tatsumi caught the thugs wrist mid arc and without thinking, twisted the man's wrist and forced him to stab himself. The thug gasped in pain and stared into Tatsumi's apologetic eyes, before he crumpled to the floor, the hilt of his own dagger embedded in his gut. Tatsumi closed the dead thugs eyes, before using his shirt as a rag and wiped the blood from his hands. He looked to where the so called "leader" was, but he wasn't there anymore. Tatsumi looked around the alley way and saw his retreating silhouette at the mouth of the alley. He heaved a sigh and pulled himself up off the floor, and came face to face with the reason he was in this alley way in the first place.

"Thanks for saving me man, guess I owe you one now." She said with a friendly smile, but he could see the distrust in her eyes, which kinda hurt him, but he couldn't blame her. If a person he'd never seen before, in his life, helped him out with little to no incentive, he'd be more than a little suspicious too. He gave her a weak smile and shook his head.

"Nah. You don't owe me anything." He said honestly, before he began to exit the alley way .

"You're weird." Tatsumi paused at the mouth of the alley way, and looked back at Leone and gave her a confused smile.

"In what way am I weird?" He asked.

"Well, for starters. You saw someone in a jam, and helped em, which is a rare trait on it's own in our great nation's capital," She joked, as she retrieved her prize from within the alley, and walked up to Tatsumi. "And secondly, after you saved me. You didn't want any kinda payment or favor in return for your help. Why?" Tatsumi looked at her genuinely confused face, and started to giggle. Now she was even more confused. All she did was ask a simple question, what's so funny about that?

"The reason why, I helped you, is because it was the right thing to do." He said, with a surprisingly serious expression. Leone searched his face for any signs that he was lying to her, but the fiery determination in his eyes, wiped away all of her doubts.

"Damn, kid! You really are somethin'," She said as she extended her hand out to him My name's Leone." Tatsumi hesitated for moment, before he smiled at her and shook her hand "Hmmmm, that's quite a firm grip you got there. I know you're getting to that age, but don't you think you're little young to be doing things like that." She said with a teasing smirk, Tatsumi cheeks turned a light pink, at the implied masterbation joke, before a similar smirk began to form on his face.

"As do you leone, are you sure you're a women ." Leone's face blushed bright red for a moment, and a big smile formed on her face.

"OH MY GOD! I've never met anyone who's been able to keep up with my teasing! It's like fate!" She squealed like a giddy school girl, the previous mistrust of each other totally forgotten. They both stood there for a moment before they bursted into laughter. Once they had stopped laughing, Leone realised just how much she liked his laugh, it wasn't dry, or forced, it was...happy and carefree, 'Actually when I think about it...He's kinda cute. He's kinda like the younger brother I always wanted.' She thought to herself, and a small smile began to tug at her lips, as she studied his facial features, she noticed the long gash across his right cheek, which was still bleeding pretty badly, her mind immediately jumped into older sibling mode and seized a hold of his right arm,

"Oi! Just what the hell do you you're-!"

"You're badly injured, so I'm taking you back to my place!" and without another word she sped to the other side of the slums, practically dragging Tatsumi, as he shouted in protest only for it to fall on deaf ears. By the time they finally arrived in front of Leone's house, it was already eight o'clock at night. The house was a small simple two story apartment, with digital copies going off to the left and right, as well as across the street, so it was your standard everyday shack you would come across, in your standard everyday neighborhood in the slums of our empires "great" capital. Once they had caught their breath, Leone pushed the door open and shouted her greeting to whom he could only assume was her family. "Mom! Dad! I'm home!" She called into the brightly lit house, she then turned to Tatsumi, who was standing outside the front door with a slightly nervous look on his face, and beckoned him inside with her arm. "C'mon aren't cha gonna come in." She said while smiling at him. He was about to protest, when she once again seized him by the arm and dragged him inside the, before slamming the door shut. "And I brought a friend!" She sing songed, and walked into the kitchen, still dragging Tatsumi.

'More like kidnapped!' He mentally screamed at her, 'Besides i need to get home, RIGHT NOW! Or this cut on my cheek is going to be the least of my problems!' He was about to voice his concerns, when a man who appeared to be in his early thirties, with a pair of friendly chocolate brown eyes, slightly greying hair, and circular glasses walked into the kitchen. Right behind him was a woman who also appeared to be in her mid thirties, maybe a year or two older than her husband, or at least who he assumed was her husband, her physical features resembled Leone's so much it was almost scary, from her eye color, to her teasing smile, they were practically clones, the only thing different between the two, aside from age, was that Leone's mom, dare he say it, had a very nice hourglass figure.

"Fufufu. And who might this little cutie be~!" Her mother said with a slightly seductive grin on her face, she didn't mean for it to be seductive, that's just how she smiles at people. Tatsumi blushed under her smile, and found the floor to become very interesting. Leone saw this, and protectively wrapped her arms around Tatsumi, and pressed his face into her developing B-cup breasts.

"You stay away from him mom, he is my friend, and besides you already have dad." She scolded her mother while sticking her tongue out at her.

"Ara, ara! Dear daughter, are you calling me a cougar!"

"SO! Leone! what's your new friend's name!" Her father interjected, in an attempt to prevent another "Tease off" he came to call them. Leone was about to reply, but everytime she tried to think of his name, she would always draw a blank. Leone's mother reformed her teasing smile and covered her mouth with hand, and acted shocked

"You mean to tell me, you brought a boy home for the night and you don't even know his name?! How very naughty of you Leone!" She said while quietly giggling at her daughter's cherry red face.

"W-W-W-What! N-N-No, you got me all wrong! I-I-I brought him home with me, b-b-b-because he had a really bad cut on his cheek and-!" Leone was cut short, as her mother pressed her index finger against her daughter's lips.

"Shhhhhh. Say no more sweet child of mine, take your friend to your room and get him all cleaned up," She then stood up straight and stretched her arms out into the air and stifled a yawn. "And try to keep it down, your father and I are very tired and gonna turn in early." She then looked over her shoulder and smiled at her husband. "Right James?"

"Actually I'm not all that-." She then flashed him a glare, and he quickly shot up from his seat and practically chased his wife up the stairs and into the master bedroom, right before the door close her mother said one last thing. "And I would stop hugging him so tightly, he looks a little blue." She said and slammed the door shut, Leone quickly released a grey and blue Tatsumi, who was gulping fresh air by the mouthful, as Leone apologised profusely. After Tatsumi had caught his breath, Leone led him upstairs and into her room. Her room wasn't what you would stereotypically think a girls room looked like, she had shelves crammed with things she's stolen over the years, a closet full of tee shirts and long pants, a pile of dirty laundry in the corner of the room, and a bed which could probably fit two people, as long as they didn't mind practically being on top of each other, and a night stand with a small lamp with a cream colored lamp shade. Leone pointed to a door on the other side of the room and told him to go take a shower, while she looked for the sewing kit.

"What do you need the sewing kit for?" He asked while slightly cocking his head to the side,

' Oh my god! He so~ cute~! He looks just like a puppy!' She thought to herself, and a quick image of Tatsumi with a pair a really fluffy ears and a tail that was rapidly wagging back and forth, popped into her head, she quickly looked away in an attempt to hide her ragging blush. "J-J-Just do as I say!" She shouted at him and he quickly disappeared into the bathroom. After a few minutes of digging around her room, she finally found the sewing kit and placed it on the nightstand, right next to the belt she stole earlier today, she then changed into her pajamas, which consisted of long wool black and green colored plaid pants, and a yellow print tee shirt, with a cat curled into a ball and small Zs floating above its head. Just as she had finished changing, the bathroom door opened, and out stepped Tatsumi wearing the clothes he wore earlier in the day. She gave him a kind smile and patted the spot on the next to her, he hesitated for a moment, before he shuffled over to the side of the bed and sat down gently.

"Thank you for letting me use your shower Leone."

"No problem…" She still couldn't remember his name.

"Oh! My bad. I totally forgot to introduce myself. My name's Tatsumi!" He said with a smile so bright, it could probably melt the coldest of hearts. He was about say more, when his head was, once again, buried deep in Leone's developing breasts,

"Awwww! You're just so cute~!" She cried and held him a little tighter, it hadn't occurred to him before, but Leone's breasts were both soft and firm at the same time, and the warmth her body gave off was intoxicating. When she pulled away from the hug, he had a slight frown on his face, which caused cheeky smirk to spread across her face. "Oho, did someone enjoy my tits a little too much," When he didn't respond, she noticed a distant look in his eyes, like the kind you would see on someone who's been through a past trauma, her cheeky grin vanished and was quickly replaced by a concerned look, and she lightly shook his shoulders. "Tatsumi?"

"Huh?" He intelligently replied, the distant look in his eyes quickly fading away.

"You were spacing out. A-Are you okay?" She asked while placing her hand on his shoulder and offered him a friendly smile. He stared at her for a minute, before a cheeky grin spread across his face, and he peered into her eyes, emerald meeting gold. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking how they could've been bigger." He said, before he burst into laughter at his own joke, Leone glared at him, but not because he made fun of her breast size, but because she knew he was holding something back.

"Ha ha. You're so funny Tatsumi." She said while giving him a deadpanned look.

"I know! Aren't I just the best!" He said sarcastically, which caused Leone to chuckle a bit.

"Alright Tatsumi. enough jokes." She chided him as she reached for the sewing kit and placed it in her lap, she fished out a two inch long, thin, sliver needle and some black thread, she stuck the end of the thread in her mouth, to straighten it, and threaded it through the eye of the needle, before tieing a small knot at the end of the thread. "Now I'm gonna need ya to sit still while I stitch up that wound of yours. Kay?" He wanted to protest, but knew better than that, if he didn't get it stitched up then he could possibly get an infection, then he would have a whole slew of new problems. So instead of arguing, like she half expected him too, he heaved a great sigh, before he begrudgingly nodded his head.

"Alright. Fine. let's get this over with." Leone smiled at him and pinched the wound close, which made Tatsumi hiss in pain. She gave him one last reassuring glance, before she drove the needle into his cheek. He yelped in pain and dug his nails into the bed sheets, after ten to fifteen minutes passed, Leone was finally done. She took a step back to admire her handy work, the stitches were uneven and at a slight angle, but hey. She never claimed to be a doctor, but it should get the job done. Tatsumi sat there, opening and closing his jaw, checking to see if any of the stitches tore, or strained his movements. It was a little uncomfortable, but it was better than having an open wound. He turned to her and flashed her his trademark smile, before standing abruptly and heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I've been gone a really long time, and my parents must be worried sick." He said in a rushed manner and gripped the door handle tightly.

"Will I ever see you again?!" She asked with slight desperation in her voice, "Please tell me we'll see each other again! I...I've never had so much fun with anyone before, in my entire life...So...Please tell me we'll see each other again." The last part was barely above a whisper, but he still managed to hear it.

"Next week,"

"Huh?"

"Next week...Meet me by the tavern...and I'll teach you how to fight properly. After all...I don't want to have my partner getting herself hurt." Her head perked and she gave him a big smile.

"Okay...Partner. I'll meet you by the tavern next week. Oh and since you were so kind to offer to teach me how to fight...I'll teach you how to pick a pocket." She said and held her fist out, "Deal?" Tatsumi turned away from the door, and gave her a light fist bump, before smiling at her.

"Deal." And with that being said, Tatsumi dashed from the room and disappeared into the night. Leone collapsed onto her bed, which made the springs squeal in protest, and stared up at the ceiling, she touched a hand to her heart and felt just how rapidly it was beating, and a content smile spread across her face.

"You better not stand me up Tatsumi." She whispered to herself before she slipped under the warm blankets, she reached out to the lamp on her night stand and was about to tug the string to turn off the lamp, when she felt a strange tingle from the belt beside the lamp, almost as if it were calling to her. She shook the feeling off and turned the lamp off with a quiet *click* and the room was bathed in darkness, she closed her eyes and was asleep in seconds. Way on the other side of town Tatsumi sprinted at top speed, his only thoughts were on getting home, a vendor's cart was in his way, and he didn't have time to go around it, so he decided to slide under it and kept on running. Once he had arrived at his house the sun was just barely peeking out over the horizon, Tatsumi didn't live in the good part of the slums, he lived in the poorer part of the slums, the area most would consider the red light district, because this area was notorious for gangs, prostitution, whore houses, strip clubs, and night clubs. His house was nothing to marvel at either, it was a single story home with red brick walls, which were cracked and had gang signs thrown up on them, and some of the windows were smashed out and covered from the outside with sheets. It had one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a family room. He stealthily walked up to the front door of his house, and pressed his ear against the door, listening for any signs of movement, but didn't hear any. Heaving an internal sigh of relief Tatsumi slowly opened the door, only to have it ripped from his grasp and a pair strong hands to wrap themselves around his scrawny neck, and yanked him inside the house. The interior of the house was in ruins, the olive green wallpaper was peeling in several spots of the house, beer bottles and broken glass were strewn haphazardly around the house, the couches in the family room were torn and moldy, and the kitchen, if it could even be called that, had a mountain of dirty, molding dishes in the sink, and smelled of mold and mildew.

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SNEAKING OUT! BRAT!" The male who was gripping Tatsumi's throat tighter by the second, was none other than his father. His father looked to be in his late forties, his hair, or at least what was left of it, was in a black greasy comb over, with three little hairs comb over the top of his head and had glazed, hate filled chocolate brown eyes, he wore a wife beater, that barely fit of his beer gut, which was stained with a mix of various alcohols, food, and blood. He also wore a pair of blue jeans, which were size XXXXL, and some fuzzy bath slippers.

"No...Dad y-you...got it all...wrong...I didn't-!"

"SHUT UP!" His father furiously shouted, before he violently threw Tatsumi across the room, he skittered across the floor and bashed his head against the base board. Another door located somewhere else in the house opened, and loud stomping could be heard coming down the hallway.

"FOR CHRIST SAKE HAROLD! I AM TRYING TO GET SOME BEAUTY SLEEP! AND YOU KNOW HOW I GET WHEN I DON'T GET MY BEAUTY SLEEP!" A woman who looked to be fifties, had shoulder black hair, which looked more like burnt spaghetti, then it did hair, her face was pale and covered with wrinkles, her eyes were a cold and faded emerald green, with purple mascara over her eyelids, she wore a purple bathrobe with the belt tied tightly around her waist, a white towel wrapped around her head, and a pair of badly stained bunny slippers.

"Sorry Dolores, BUT THE LITTLE SHIT SNUCK OUT AGAIN!" He Shouted before throwing a half empty beer bottle, he had been holding at his side, at Tatsumi's head, but it missed by a long ways and smashed to pieces against the wall, the alcohol slowly sliding down the wall, to the floor.

"Is that so! Then I guess we'll have to punish him, won't we Harold." She called sweetly to her husband.

"I think you're right Dolores! Now what shall we do today? Hmm? Should we whip you until you're covered in lashes? Or poison you until you're puking your guts out?" He asked, and a feral grin spread across his face, as both "Parents" turned to the boy who was currently cowering in the corner of the room.

"P-P-Please I won't do it again! I promise, just please anything but that!" He cried, his voice choked and hoarse, he was on the verge of tears.

"Oh I don't think so! After all we have to make sure!" His mother cried in a cheery tone, before her husband seised Tatsumi by the scruff of his neck, and kicked away the carpet, which had been concealing a hidden trap door. He threw the trap door open, and tossed Tatsumi into the waiting darkness, they waited until they heard him hit the last stair and cry out in pain, before slowly creeping down the stairs, and closing the hatch behind them. That night, the whole neighborhood flinched in sympathetic pain, every time they heard Tatsumi cry out in pain, or beg for mercy and forgiveness.

Next week

Leone was currently sitting on the lip of a fountain, which was located in the same plaza as the tavern that Tatsumi told her to meet him at. She was wearing a black tee shirt and pair of brown work pants, which were held up by the belt that she stole. She was starting to grow impatient, when she saw a familiar mop of spiky brown hair.

"Ah. Tatsumi. I was starting to think you stood-." She froze, when he turned to face her.

"Hey...Leone" He grunted out in pain, his voice barely over a whisper.

"What...What happened to you!" She cried, as she rushed to her friend's side and examined his injuries. His arms and face were covered in small cuts, and the stitching on his right cheek had re opened. Before he could push her off, she lifted his shirt to reveal that his chest and midsection was covered in black and blue welts. She slowly lowered his shirt, and pulled him into a warm comforting embrace, and rested her chin on top of his head. "Who did this to you?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled by his hair. He didn't answer, he instead, pressed his body closer to hers' and wrapped his arms around her waist. She then felt hot tears soak into her black tee shirt and held him a little tighter. "Shhh. Shhh. It's okay. It's okay. Y-You're safe now." She whispered, her voice slightly choked at seeing her partner, who was strong, witty, and funny just last week. Reduced to a bloody, bruised, sobbing mess. Whoever did this to her partner, was going to suffer greatly. "Tatsumi...I want you to tell me who did this to you." She said in a low and commanding voice.

"I can't tell you that," He whispered. Leone growled, as she squeezed him even tighter, tears of frustration leaking from her eyes. "Because you're not strong enough the way you are now, and they will kill you. However. If you can beat me in a fight, Then would be strong enough to take em on...Okay." Leone nodded her head without hesitation, and released him from her embrace. He wiped away her tears and smiled up at her, before they both assumed a battle stance. A confused expression crossed Leone's face, as she felt a throbbing pain in her chest and found herself on her back. "You gotta be quicker than that Leone!" He chided, as he removed his boot from her chest, and took a couple of steps back. It took a moment for Leone to get back on her feet, but the moment she did, a fist slammed into her side. She hissed in pain and clutched her side, she turned to face her opponent, only to get sent into the dirt by a Spartan kick from behind. She quickly scrambled to her feet, and caught sight of the incoming punch out of the corner of her eye, and narrowly dodged the punch,. She was about to grab ahold of his outstretched arm, and deliver a devastating jab to the throat, which she was sure was enough to subdue him. But she didn't expect him to twist his body to the left, yanking his arm out of reach, and was prepared to elbow her in the face. She crossed her arms in front of her face in an attempt to block his attack, but the attack never came. She lowered her arms, panting heavily and her body was glistening with sweat. She looked at Tatsumi, who looked a little winded, but other than that, he was fine!

"How...the hell...were you...so...fast!?" She wheezed out, before flopping down on the lip of the fountain, her thoughts of the one who dare harm her partner gone, replaced by thoughts of how he was so fast.

"practice." He said as he took a seat beside her on the lip of the fountain. He looked over and saw that she had a discouraged look on face. "But don't worry. I've seen the way you fight, and you have a lot of raw talent. All you need is someone who's willing to train you." He said while giving her a kind smile. She perked up a little bit, and she looked him dead in the eyes. Trying to see if he's lying.

"But who'd be willing to teach me how to fight!?" She cried as she slowly started to slip into depression. She felt a warm hand placed on her shoulder and turned to see her partner giving her one of the brightest smiles she has ever seen.

"Did you forget our little agreement." She had to resist the urge to facepalm, how could she forget such an important agreement and smiled at him.

"Kinda." She said. As she smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck. "I am under your care now, Tatsumi."

"As am I, and I look forward to working with you, Leone."

"Likewise." She returned his bright smile, before she realised just how late it was. "Shit! I better get home, or my parents will kill me!"Tatsumi's eyes widened, before Leone quickly shouted back, "I meant figuratively, so don't worry! I'll meet you here tomorrow! Somewhere around mid day!" before disappearing into the night, much like he did the weak prior.

'That's good to hear Leone. I don't know what I'd do if your parents treated you the same way mine treat me, but I know deep down in their hearts. They love me.' He then walked over to a nearby bench a layed down and closed his eyes, it was his punishment for not screaming loud enough during his punishment. 'At least I'll get to see Leone tomorrow.' He thought he thought to himself, before slipping into a deep sleep.

Wooo, That was a long chapter. Please let me know what you thought of the story, rewrite for doomslayer is the next story I'm gonna be working on. Then after that is second chances, which might get a title change too. Until next time

Lord of runes