Important Notice: Due to the many ideas, both major and minor, that I am borrowing/taking from different Anime/Book/Manga Series, like 07-Ghost, Get Backers, Rorouni Kenshin, and others, this story will now be moved to the crossover section.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Stay Night, Tsukihime, Kara no Kyoukai, 07-Ghost, Get Backers and other Anime/Manga/Books etc. except for the plot I cooked up based from said Anime/Manga/Books etc. and is written purely for entertainment purpose only.

I am the temple of my swords.

Warm is my heart, yet frozen is my soul.

I have chanted over a thousand prayers.

Bringer of justice, defender of innocents.

Protector of the ones I love.

And so I trudge forward.

This is a path I shall not regret.

So aid me in my goal, I beseech you, aid me in my quest.

Awaken from your slumber.

My Sanctuary of Blades.

CHAPTER 8

Fujimura Yuki, age thirteen, an ordinary girl who is currently at the first year of her junior high education who had recently transferred to Asagami Private Academy in the town of Misaki.

The truth, however, is that she was not an ordinary girl. She was human, that much was true, but aside from being human, she had a secret, one which only Taiga, her sister, knew about. And that secret, is the fact that she had abilities that could only be called magic. However, her abilities was not something she was born with. It was something she had gained after an incident which occurred three years before.

She had always had a knack for sensing things that no one else could sense, but her other powers, as she knew, did not come from within her. Since the powers she had, was something that she learned, something that, in a way, had been taught to her by her partner, her partner, which happened to be a sentient weapon.

Had she not met her partner, Yuki would probably never have believed in the existence of the supernatural, in the existence of magic, and in fact, she probably would not have even had the chance to think about, since she would have died. After that particular incident however, in which she had been kidnapped and almost murdered, the silver-haired female had come to believe that magic does exist.

Masamune, it was the name which Yuki had given to the being that had saved her life, since he did not have any. When they had first met, his form was similar to that of a shinigami, or a grim reaper. Or rather, when he had first revealed himself. Yet as far as Yuki was concerned, to her, the monstrous creature was like a guardian angel

Even though he looked terrifying, Yuki had not been afraid of him. Masamune may look like a monster, yet for some reason, she was able to read his emotions, and all he wanted to do was to protect her. After all, Yuki never judged a person, or being for that matter, simply because of their appearance. Masamune saved her life, saved her from the clutches of the true demon who was disguised as a human, the murderer who had abducted her. That person was the one who Yuki had been truly afraid of. And thanks to Masamune, she was saved. And in the past few years, Masamune had been doing just that, taking the role of being Yuki's teacher, as well as protector.

Unlike a normal teacher-student relationship, or personal relationship for that matter, Yuki and Masamune never actually spoke directly to each other, not verbally, not even mentally.

No matter how hard Yuki tried to strike up a conversation, the sentient, shape-shifting weapon, which stayed in a mark on her right shoulder, never spoke a single word, either because he did not know how to speak, or did not want to speak, Yuki of course suspecting that it was the latter. Whenever Yuki asked a question, Masamune would either not answer, or if the question seemed relevant enough, the silver-haired female would get a vision as a response. In fact, his teaching method was also with the use of visions.

Ironically enough, even though one of the skills that had been taught to her by her partner was Memory Manipulation, she was, up till now, still unable to unlock her own memories, which could only imply two things: either the memories had been completely erased or they had been sealed, the culprit behind it, of course was glaringly obvious. Still, even if that was the case, Yuki knew that Masamune probably had his reasons if her second theory turned out to be correct.

Still, despite this compromise, the two of them had become rather close, almost like best of friends. Masamune may be the silent type, but whenever it felt that Yuki was in a situation which she could not handle by herself, or whenever Yuki wanted him to appear, he would materialize, either in his spectre form, or in the past few months, now that she had honed her own fighting skills, as a sword, Yuki's weapon of choice.

The sentient weapon never talked, but even then, Yuki had known him well enough to know exactly what emotion he was feeling, and it was through this method that the sword let its opinion be known, whether he approved or not, or whether he thought everything was fine or he it could sense a threat. Masamune had been with her for a while now, and, as crazy as it may sound, Yuki loved and saw the sentient weapon, not just as her family, but as part of herself, as part of soul.

"MASAMUNE! GET BACK OUT HERE AND RECEIVE YOUR PUNISHMENT, YOU STUPID ANNOYING SWORD!"

Of course, that did not stop Yuki from getting really angry with the sword whenever it did something that was out of line.

And right now, the sentient weapon had done something which had really ticked her off.

One of the regular expenses of the Fujimura household before was actually buying bamboo swords and shinai. However, this was not because the ones using them for training were too careless or too abusive of their practice swords. No, the real reason why they have such an expense in the first place... was because a certain someone was in the habit of destroying them whenever no one was looking, or at least when it thought no one was looking. Yuki could not understand exactly why, but for some reason, Masamune seems to dislike the presence of other weapons in their house.

However, aside from this habit, her sentient weapon had another little hobby which Yuki, must admit, nearly made her throw the sword down a river.

Yuki, in all honesty, was a good girl. Sure, she could be brutal and merciless to those she considered evil and does not see as friends, but when it comes right down to it, with the exception of the fact that she was a fighter, she was a kind and mature individual who cares for her grandfather, her sister, her daughter and the rest of the members of the Fujimura household. And generally, her image before she left was similarly the same as her true nature. An above average girl who excelled at most of the things she does, a girl who was kind yet fierce at the same time.

Half a year before, however, her image, while remaining in tact, had had an addition to it, an addition, which Yuki absolutely did not like. And that addition to her image, both in school and in her home... was that she was a pervert.

Yuki was not that kind of person, that was without a doubt. However, if people find magazine, books and movies with questionable content in them inside a person's room, in his bag, or under his desk at his school, what else would they think? But then, Yuki never had any interest in them. And to add to that, she was a girl. Well, it was true that there are girls into reading those kind of things, but she was certainly not among them. No, there was only one person, or being, who could have been responsible for it, and it certainly wasn't her older sister Taiga. Her older sister may enjoy doing pranks, but planting pornographic materials was not her style. No, there was only one culprit.

It was without a doubt her sword, Masamune.

Masamune could always leave Yuki's tattoo at will, and reading porn happened to be his favourite habit... and also watching them.

So far, Yuki had not found any more of those materials, although it might be because the sword was hiding them from her, since she was in the habit of burning his entertainment, literally.

Except for one...

Thus, Yuki was currently meditating inside of her room, locked and complete with a privacy spell cast on it, holding a mallet in her hands, waiting for the reaper to manifest itself, whatever weapon form it decides to take once it was flushed out. The silver-haired female may not be using her will to suppress the sword, but she can if she wanted to, either to force it to stay put, or force it to get out. It was a battle of wills, and Yuki was certainly not going to allow herself to lose.

Despite her anger and resentment at the sword's habit, despite the embarrassment that she had to endure because of it, despite her fury and jealousy at the fact that the sword was looking at other female's bodies and not her own (though Yuki will never admit it), despite the fact that she was affected, particularly her dreams, by those kinds of emotions that she felt coming from the sentient sword, Yuki had so far been tolerant of her partner's behaviour. In fact, she even tolerated the fact that orders of such immoral books and DVDs were sent to the Fujimura household in Yuki's name, however the sword managed to pull it off.

However, leaving the DVD player with that particular kind of movie running was something she could not allow to pass unpunished... not when the action caused the mind of Yuki's daughter, Sakura, to be corrupted by the unseemly video. It was only a coincidence and an accident that it happened, but it was still no excuse for Masamune's carelessness.

xxxXXXxxx

Zombies are among the most popular creatures which are used as the main 'source of terror' which are used in horror stories and movies. They are basically dead humans, or corpses, that are somehow resurrected into something akin to a monster, maintaining most of its motor function, yet continuing being a corpse, a rotten creature which is an abomination of nature. In the movies, there a number of various reasons as to their existence. They could be corpses reanimated using magic, a punishment from God or a curse from the Devil, or caused by some sort of infection or biological in weapons. In some movies, they retain their mind, but in most cases, they are mindless, walking creatures whose only instinct is to kill, kill, kill and kill.

No matter how scary the movies or stories happen to be, however, they are nothing but fictional creatures which do not exist in the world.

"Grrr…aaargh!"

Which is why, if most people were to meet one, they probably would not believe it, even if the truth of their existence stared them in the face. Just like in the movies, most people would panic, and their instinct would drive them to flee, to get away as far as possible from the vile creatures. Yet most of them do not get far, and are either devoured, or eaten by the living dead, or else, if their brains are left intact, they soon join their ranks, as part of the mindless undead.

"Darn it… just how many of these things are there?"

The brown-haired female wearing a striped shirt, however, was not most people.

"I'm not sure, Onee-san."

And neither was her younger sister.

Just like in the movies, there are also those who fight, who have the means to fight, and struggle against the monsters to the very end. Most of them, however, while capable, also only seek to flee, to break through and ultimately get away from the zombies. There are rarely any, save for main protagonists who either really strong or really lucky, or both, who would even think of charging the monstrosities head on.

Fujimura Taiga, and her sister Yuki, however, did exactly that, and now, they were presently in the back alleys of Misaki, facing off the undead, creatures which were only supposed to be found in movies. Yet, as the two of them realized, they were actually real… very real.

Still, they did not really have much of a choice, for the creatures had been following them around, especially at night. Taiga may not have the ability to sense anything magical, but her ability to sense danger and hostile intent in any form, was just as sharp as her sister's. Thus, every night, they had no choice but to make sure that they were not being followed home.

Back to back. That was always how she and Yuki had fought. It did not matter who or what, or how many they were facing, as long as there was a fight, they would fight together, and with the knowledge that it was the latter that was guarding their backs, even if the situation was dire, Taiga felt safe, knowing that her sister, the person who she trusted the most in the word, was the one who was fighting by her side.

"Grraa-AAAARGH!"

The living corpses lunged, four from both sides, each one moving at a speed that was beyond human, their fangs bare, instinctively aiming for their living targets' necks, their deathly impulse urging them forward to suck their victim dry. And in less than a second, they managed to cover five meters, and they were now upon their victim.

Or so the zombies thought, that is, if they had the ability to think. Instead, the undead that charged were defeated, all eight falling to their knees, while their heads rolled off to one side, four of which having their heads chopped off by Taiga's sword, while the other four had been decapitated by her younger sister.

Seeing this, the older Fujimura sister could not help but smirk in triumph.

They're fast, but they are nothing but mindless beasts, thought Taiga smugly. Fighting them is even easier than fighting those weakling thugs from the Kaito Group.

"Onee-san, don't let your guard down!"

?!

Taiga's moment of peace was only short lived, however, as now, the rest of the living corpses, around a couple of dozen of them, were now charging towards them.

Admittedly, the zombies were indeed fast, much faster than how they were depicted in the movies. However, just like in the movies, they react purely on impulse, without the ability to think… which makes their strength and speed useless, since their movement was too easy to predict.

This time, however, they were attacking in great multitude, and it was like facing an oncoming avalanche from all directions. Even with all her skill, Taiga knew it would be a pain to avoid getting bitten... something which would be fatal, or even worse than fatal, as she had seen what happens to those who received even the most minor of injuries from the undead beings. However, she was not worried, because her younger sister was with her.

"The Lord giveth life, the Lord giveth hope, so long as the Lord is with me, I shall know no fear."

Suddenly, multitude of corpses, which were only a couple of feet away from them, were all thrown backwards, as a wall of black text which were emitting a bright blue aura encircled the two females.

Runes, or as her younger called them, Zaiphon.

Darn, that really is useful, it's a shame I can't learn it, the brown haired female thought somehow bitterly. The reason she was feeling bitter, however, was not because she was jealous of her sister, but because if she had it, she would have been able to protect her sister better.

Thus, by the end of hour, the legion of undead, about four dozen of them in all, were burning in a funeral pyre, a large funeral pyre, which turned them into ashes, as well as the old abandoned building which served as the battlefield… or place of slaughter, depending on perspective.

xxxXXXxxx

Worry. That was the emotion which Fujimura Yuki, the younger sister of Fujimura Taiga, could read off her sister's face. Given the circumstances they were in, however, it really came as no surprise. The two of them were presently naked in a bath tub, taking a nice hot bath to remove the grime and soot from their bodies. The two of them were quiet, both of them consumed by their own thoughts, instead of their usual sisterly fighting and bickering, as they tried to think about the future that lay ahead of them.

In the past few days, despite her sister maintaining her cheerful and happy-go-lucky outlook on the outside, Yuki could easily tell that it was a fake, that it was nothing but a façade. Knowing about the existence of magic, zombies, and natural things was one thing. Knowing that they were deliberately coming after you and your family, however, was a different matter altogether. And it was this particular suspicion which made it difficult for the two sisters to fall asleep at night. Had it not been for the fact that Yuki had placed a barrier around their house, they probably would not have been able to get any at all.

Wars. From the visions which had been shared to Yuki by her partner, Wars were originally human, humans who made a deal with Kor, winged creatures which served the God of Death, Verloren, which would grant the wish of their contractor, in exchange for their body. Once the third wish was granted, the Kor would take over the corrupted soul and body of the host, thus turning them into something similar to the undead. At least, that was according to a legend which Yuki learned about from her sword.

According to Masamune, however, the creatures which they were presently fighting were not Wars, and were something else entirely.

The story of Creation, it was one of the stories which Masamune, Yuki's partner, shared with her through her visions along with teaching her his brand of magic. But due to Masamune not sharing everything he knows, having shown her only bits and pieces that were relevant for her to learn the prayers, Yuki only had a vague idea of the story behind it.

Still, according to the information which her partner had been willing to share, the Wars were creatures closest to the one which they were recently fighting. Unlike Wars, however, which had a soul that was a fusion of the human's and the demon which contracted it, the corpses Yuki had been fighting were not only much weaker in terms of strength: they were also without souls. Even though the body of a Wars was dead, it technically still contained a soul. The Wars-like creatures which Yuki and her older had been slaying in the past week, however, no longer had one, and were nothing but shells, empty husks, that were either moving on their own or else, as Yuki suspected, were being manipulated by magic or whatever means by someone from afar, like puppets on strings.

However, despite being weaker, that did not make the zombies, as she and Taiga decided to call them, any less dangerous. True, they were weaker, but unlike Wars, they seem to be able to increase in number much more quickly, and while they had not yet seen had they managed to do so, Yuki and her sister had been careful not to get bitten, as they suspected that the undead were able to increase their numbers through infection.

"Yuki?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think we made the right decision, leaving Fuyuki, I mean? Well, it was grandfather who suggested it, but even still, we were the ones who agreed to it."

"Why are you asking me that now?"

"It's just that ever since we moved here, nothing seemed to be going right at all. The school, the people, I don't really understand it myself, but from what I can tell, even without those things after us, it seems to me that we are not welcome here. I know it's for Sakura's sake, but why did we end up moving here? Why couldn't it have been somewhere else?"

"..."

Yuki did not know how to answer her older sister's question. It was the first time, as far as she could remember that she had seen the Tiger of Fuyuki like this, curled up on her knees in the bathtub, with the look air of a depressed and helpless kitten.

On one hand, Yuki could not help but agree with her sister. Admittedly, she too, had been feeling homesick. She missed Fuyuki, her friends and family, as well as her classmates, who, as far as she could tell, were real people, unlike the machine-like entities who she had for classmates in her current school.

On the other hand, if they remained in Fuyuki, there was a chance that Sakura would be recognized, and there was no way Yuki would allow her daughter to be taken back by those monsters who pose as her family.

And aside from that, if they did not transfer to Misaki, she would never have found out about the problems that was plaguing the town. Yuki hated the fact that her family was in danger because of their decision, but a part of her, while she will never admit it, she was glad that she discovered it. For here was her chance, her chance to save people who are in danger, a chance to stop a potential catastrophe from occurring. The unknown enemy or enemies were being discreet, but even if they were avoiding the limelight, their very existence was causing the death of innocent people, something which Yuki could not a turn a blind eye to.

Although now she was half-wishing she simply turned away.

A part of her was telling Yuki that there was nothing to regret, but another part of her was telling her otherwise. Thanks to the fact that she got involved, thanks to the fact that she had saved that woman on that night, she had now become a target for whoever was behind it, and in turn, she was putting her family in danger.

Every single day, as a consequence, Yuki had no choice but to take different routes home, just to make sure that she was not being followed... or rather, to make sure that she eliminated whatever it was that was following her so that it could not follow her home. She informed her sister of this matter, who opted to accompany her as well, but it still wasn't easy dealing with the enemy's spies, which could take many forms, either a bird, a cat, a dog, and at night, whenever they went home after dark, they would find that one or two of those human corpses was following them.

The two of them were actually thinking of telling their bodyguards about it, but they knew that it was unlikely that they would be believed. Besides, as Yuki contemplated, it was for the best that they know nothing, and that they focus their attention on protecting Sakura.

Her family... thanks to her impulse to do help other people, Yuki had now placed her precious people in a dangerous situation, and she could not help but feel that it was all her fault.

And yet, even though it was all her fault, her older sister Taiga had not once blamed it for it, and in fact, just like family, chose to continue to stay by her side... something which made the guilt Yuki felt feel even worse.

"What do you-AAARGH! MY EYES! WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" The older Fujimura sister suddenly screamed.

"Ooops. Sorry Onee-san. My hands slipped." Yuki stated in mock apology, as she watched her sister rubbing one of her eyes with amusement, which had been hit directly by shampoo that had been 'accidentally' squeezed from the tube which she was currently holding in her hands.

"WHY YOU! I'M GOING TO GET YOU FOR THAT!"

Still, if there was one thing Yuki could do, it was to try and distract her sister, as well as herself, from thinking about their predicament, even for a moment. And now, as she evaded the bar of soap that was hurled at her by her sister Yuki could not help but smile.

It seems like she's back to normal, for now at least, thought the silver-haired female to herself, as she and her sister both reached for the nearest items they could get their hands on, with every intention of using said items to bring the other to their knees.

xxxXXXxxx

In the back of a farm truck that was currently moving through the countryside, a man, who was wearing a grey jacket with white stripes was currently lying down on a pile of hay, his head, covered with a hood, as he slumped to one side, doing his best to endure the pain he was feeling.

However, the pain, which Matou Kariya was feeling at the moment, was not one which was caused by the Crest Worms in his body. In fact, as far as he could tell, his physical condition, surprisingly enough, had been improving in the past little while. Apparently, the Worms had now fully acknowledged Kariya, and instead of causing him pain, despite feeding off on his mana, were actually healing him physically. No, the reason why he was in pain was due to the conflicting emotions in his heart.

It had been a few days since then, since he had first left Fuyuki and set out towards his destination. During that time, he had been hitching rides in vehicles who, conveniently, all turned out to be nice people, and all of them were kind enough to let him ride with them, not judging him for how he looked and they even shared their food with him, that there was no need to hypnotise them into obeying. Currently, he was riding with an old couple, both of whom, as he noticed, were nothing like his old man who had recently kicked the bucket.

He remembered that rainy day, when he had collapsed on the streets. At the time, he thought his life was over, that he was going to die for sure. And yet, he had survived, his life saved, by a monk who lived in the Ryuudou Temple, where he had been brought and nursed back to health, without prejudice, without partiality. True, they had been suspicious and worried about how he had gotten into such a state, but the chief monk did not delve, did not pry in further, when he refused to tell his story, after saying that it was a personal matter.

The monks, for their actions of good will, had earned Kariya's respect and gratitude. And it was for this reason that he decided to leave immediately, not wanting cause them trouble or put their lives in danger. Knowing his grandfather, Kariya was sure that the old worm would probably slaughter the virtuous monks if they found out about the Matou methods... something which the old man would no longer be able to do.

For Matou Zouken... was dead. When the head monk told him that the Matou mansion was destroyed, Kariya was surprised, and in fact, sceptical. The mansion, after all was literally a fortress, one which was protected by several enchantments that if activated, could ward off most assaults, and it was even sufficient, according to the records, to delay or badly injure a Servant.

And yet it was destroyed, reduced to nothing but a rubble, and the young man whose hair had turned white because of excessive self-abuse of his body through magecraft, had seen it with his own two eyes.

Instead of feeling joy at the fact however, Matou Kariya, who should have been happy of the news of the demise of his despicable grandfather and brother, was enraged. For according to the news, the people who were in the mansion at the time, including Matou Byakuya, Matou Shinji...

... and Matou Sakura.

And thus, the infuriated man, despite the fact that he was still recovering, despite knowing full well that he would not stand a chance, headed towards the Tohsaka Manor, intending to kill the person who was responsible for the incident. In Kariya's mind, he knew that there was only one person who was capable enough of infiltrating and casting a powerful enough Fire Spell to destroy a fortress like his hellhole of a home, none other than Tohsaka Tokiomi, the man who abandoned his daughter, all because of stupid magecraft.

Yet, when he got there, instead of seeing a cruel, cold-hearted magus who would do anything for the sake of his pathetic dream of reaching Akasha, Matou Kariya instead, found a complete stranger.

When he charged at the Tohsaka Mansion, Kariya expected to find a fortress, one which would undoubtedly fire of its fatal machinations at an intruder. Instead, he found a drunkard, a broken man, wandering its yard without a care for the world, talking to loudly to himself, dancing around like a lunatic as he drank his booze. It did not take long for Kariya, to know exactly what happened.

Apparently, Tohsaka Tokiomi was innocent, and had nothing to do with the Matou Mansion incident whatsoever, this much Kariya was able to confirm. But aside from that, by listening to the man's drunken rambling, he found out something else...

...

"Sakura... she was supposed to become the heir to the Matou family, to become a great magus who will not be overshadowed by her sister. She was supposed to get the opportunity I am duty-bound to never be able to give her. I thought I was doing what was best for them. Why? Why did this have to happen. I am a failure as a magus. I am a failure as father. Damn it all!"

...

Kariya had thought the man as heartless. He thought Tokiomi was a monster. Yet in the end, he realized the man was just as human as he was. A man, who had a heart. He did not want to accept it, but at that moment, Kariya realized that while what the man did was to literally place his second daughter to hell, he thought that what he was doing was for the best, partly as a magus, but the person who Kariya saw, was not a magus... but a father. A father who loved his family, yet was conflicted due to being a magus at the same time, and his attempt to balance his two personas was what led to him making mistakes, what led to his personal tragedy, as well as the tragedy of those around him.

For as he listened further, Kariya discovered that something else happened: After learning of Sakura's death, Tohsaka Tokiomi has been divorced by his wife Aoi, and she took Rin along with her.

At that point time, Kariya was stunned, and did not know what to do. Here in front of him, was the man who he hated even more than his own grandfather, the man who was the cause of all the pain and misery of people he cared about, weak and defenceless. In the state he was in, the Worm user knew it would only be too easy to kill him.

However, Kariya decided not to. Not because he did not want to kill him, but because killing Tokiomi was actually more merciful than allowing him to continue his existence.

At least, that was what Kariya tried to tell himself, yet in truth, the real reason why he spared the man was because, even though Kariya would never admit it to himself, he now understood that the man was not a complete monster as he had originally thought. His actions, while influenced by the fact that he was a magus, were driven just as much by his love for his family. He could not let go of his despicable traditions, yet despite this fact, he had done his best, at least from his own perspective, to try and be a father who does not show favouritism, even though his attempt failed miserably.

Thus, Kariya decided to leave him be, allowing fate to decide what would happen to the husk of the once proud magus, while he, Kariya, decided to take his own life. He might want to see Aoi, he might want to know if they were doing fine, but when it comes right down it, he knew he would not find the courage to face them, not when he had failed to save Sakura, who the man truly saw and loved like his own daughter.

Thus, suicide was his only option to seek penance, and it was exactly what he would have done... had it not been for one simple action on his part: fumbling in his pockets.

When he tried to look in his pockets for a cigarette, to have one last smoke before he threw himself to hell, it was at that time that he realized that the coat he was wearing was not his own. Apparently, during his stay at the Ryuudou Temple, the good Samaritans changed his clothes. And instead of finding his lighter or a pack of cigarettes, he found things belonging to a high school student. A pen, erasers with cheating notes in them... and a picture.

Nothing would have changed Kariya's mind on his decision of taking his own life, as he no longer had anything left to live for... except for that picture.

For in that picture, was a girl, a thirteen year old girl, with silver hair and ruby red eyes, the exact description, as he only remembered Zouken talking about it too well, of an Einzbern homunculus. However, it was not that girl which had caught Kariya's attention, but rather... the smaller girl who was walking beside her.

Yes, Kariya thought that she was dead, that somehow, during his long slumber, the despicable head of the Matou family somehow managed to track down Sakura and brought her back home before the mansion was attacked. However, when he looked at the photograph... there was no doubt about it. The girl who was walking beside the silver-haired female, with her black hair and aqua-colored eyes, Kariya could not be mistaken...

The girl in the photograph... was his adoptive niece, Sakura.

Thus, Matou Kariya, who had lost all hope, found it rekindled: he still had something left to do. He still had something left to live for.

And as the truck he was hitching a ride in continued on its way on the winding road, Kariya's gaze would move to and fro, from the picture of his adopted niece, to the page of the diary which belonged to Ryuudou Reikan, where along with his laments and indirect self-confession of being a stalker, was the information which Kariya needed.

"Fujimura Residence, Number 326-9778, Misaki," the man whispered to himself, the image of the young girl who he had dedicated his entire being into saving not once leaving his mind. Don't worry, Sakura. Uncle Kariya is coming to save you...

Yes, the man was determined to save her niece no matter what. However, if there was one thing which Matou Kariya failed to notice... it was the fact that the girl in the picture...

...was actually smiling.

xxxXXXxxx

To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Alright, another chapter out. Now, I suppose I don't really have much to say here, except that I would recommend that you read or at least watch the 07-Ghost Anime, since it is the basis for some of the additions I made in this fic. There will probably be no characters from the 07-ghost Universe except one, but the concepts of abilities will be used quite frequently.

But enough about that...

And like always, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter...

Later then, people...