Deus Didymus: Rend

Chapter Fifteen: Prelude

"Nako chan! Are you ready to head out?"

Nako threw her vest over her shoulders, leaping down the flight of stairs.

"Yep!"

"Look who's excited," Mr. Yabuki grinned.

The small kunoichi threw herself at her father, wrapping her arms around him.

"I can't believe we get to spend the day together!!"

"Make sure you look after each other," Mrs. Yabuki called from the stove, "We can never trust SM."

"Will do!" Nako cheered.

The father-daughter duo walked through the door, starting toward the academy.

"What are your friends like?"

Nako turned toward her father, pursing her lips, "I used to have a rambunctious and chill duo paired with me. Ever since Y/n took Hii chan's place at the sword village, my team's just distant. Tatsuo san rarely interacts with us—much less goes to the academy, and Bae ya and I only spar together."

"That's a shame to hear," Mr. Yabuki frowned.

The two spotted Tatsuo and Bae standing off the path of the eastern gate. The pair of boys leaned against the wall with their arms crossed, staring at the grass.

Tatsuo lifted his head, prompting him to stand upright.

"Your dad might have been picked by the Crimson Paper God or whatever, but I will be taking the lead on this mission. Not only am I the strongest here, but this deals with my home."

"That works with me," Mr. Yabuki shrugged.

"Okay. Let's head out."


Fire cracked at the wood fueling it, illuminating the small campsite. Nako poked at the tinder, giggling while her father shaped the flames into different animals. 

To their side, Bae slept on a pile of leaves while Tatsuo slept in a dome of earth. 

"Dad, how did you and Mom meet?"

Mr. Yabuki dropped the flames, "We never told you where we're from, huh?"

Nako shook her head.

"Alright," Mr. Yabuki smiled, "First, let me tell you that your mother and I are what people would call radicals. We wanted unity of our clan and the clan the Hondas belong to. I say 'clan' loosely; the two clans aren't closely related by blood, but all hold the same Allele."

Mr. Yabuki weaved his hands together, creating a small spout of water from his fingers. As the water mixed with the dirt below them, he grabbed a stick from the ground. 

"So this is what our continent looks like, right? There's the peninsula Park Ji Hoon made, the Divine Basin in the middle of JYP, SM, and HYBE, and these are the borders of each country. Along with the mainland, there are five islands in the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest corners of the map. The southwestern island is where your friend is. The northwestern island is undiscovered territory, but the ocean currents are too dangerous for people to venture there. The southeastern islands are inhabited by YGE, and the northeastern islands are where we're from."

"How did you guys get to the mainland?"

"By boat. The funny thing is, your mother and I disliked each other while we were fleeing."

Nako tilted her head, "You did?"

"Yep," Mr. Yabuki chuckled, "She was too serious for my liking. I had the fattest crush on Hitomi's mom actually."

"How did you guys know each other?"

"Hitomi's father and I regularly met to try to discuss how to unify our clans. When we were caught and put to execution, your mother saved us. We then found a boat and fled the island. Hitomi's mother just came along for the ride."